The defense for accused UCCS shooter Nicholas Jordan was given extra time to enter a plea by an El Paso County judge on Oct. 25, delaying the case again since it began in February.
Jordan, 25, is accused of shooting and killing his roommate and UCCS student Sam Knopp, 24, and Pueblo resident Celie Rain Montgomery, 26, in the early morning hours of Feb. 16 in Jordan and Knopp’s dorm room at the Crestone building on campus.
Jordan was supposed to have his charges formally read to him on Friday morning and enter a plea of guilty or not guilty, but Judge David Shakes ruled that the defense, consisting of attorneys Nick Rogers and William Patrick, will have until Nov. 22 to enter a plea. The arraignment was already scheduled six weeks from the last hearing on Sept. 3, per Roger’s request.
The ruling to delay the arraignment came following the request of Rogers, who described Jordan as “severely mentally ill” and said that it’s impacting the defense’s ability to represent him. He noted that they want time to properly prepare for the case since Jordan could potentially face life in prison.
“We have made significant steps. We have not wasted this time … if we have another arraignment, then we can make the final decision,” Rogers said.
Jordan’s competency has been a central conversation in the case for months. The discussion started in March when the defense initially claimed he couldn’t stand trial because of his mental illness. Judge Shakes ruled in August that he was competent enough to defend himself, despite conflicting competency reports from two experts.
If Judge Shakes did not rule in favor of the defense, Rogers noted that they would proceed with a not guilty plea.
Prosecution Attorney Andrew Vaughan argued on behalf of the families of the victims, saying they are eager to see progress made on the case, which started in February.
“I imagine they have a pretty robust team with them to work with them on this case,” Vaughan said, arguing that Jordan has “been deemed competent” for long enough to proceed.
Timeline of Jordan’s case before today’s hearing
The case has seen numerous delays since starting eight months ago. Here is a timeline of events:
- Feb. 23: Jordan appears in court for the first time, and the request to reduce his bond was denied, according to reporting from The Gazette.
- March 18: Jordan and his defense claims he isn’t competent enough to stand trial, and Judge Shakes ordered a mental evaluation to determine his competency. His preliminary hearing, which occurs before an arraignment, was scheduled for March 27 but was delayed indefinitely.
- March 26: Jordan faces new charges after an alleged assault involving a deputy while he was being held in the El Paso County jail. According to previous reporting from The Scribe, deputy Taylor Smith testified in court that Jordan had assaulted another deputy after they denied him cleaning supplies for the toilet in his cell.
- April 12: After an evaluation from Sarah Velsor, a forensic psychologist at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo, found Jordan to be incompetent, a second competency evaluation was requested by Vaughan, according to reporting from The Gazette.
- July 12: Forensic psychiatrist Patricia Westmoreland testified in court that she found that Jordan was competent enough to procced, which conflicted with the first evaluation done by the psychologist. The evaluation, which was performed on April 30, found that he had mental health issues, but it did not make him unable to help his defense team.
- Aug. 2: Judge Shakes ruled that Jordan was competent to stand trial after hearing testimony from both Velsor and Westmoreland. During the hearing, the defense used Velsor’s statements to argue that his “waxing and waning” symptoms have made it difficult to communicate with him, but the conflicting evaluations were enough for Judge Shakes to deem Jordan competent.
- Sept. 3: Extensive evidence is revealed by investigators at the preliminary hearing that was initially scheduled for March 27. Detective Ed Crofoot testified that the cartridges found in Knopp’s dorm room matched a handgun that was found inside Jordan’s vehicle when he was arrested, and fingerprint found on the handgun’s magazine was a match for Jordan, according to previous reporting from The Scribe. He also testified that Jordan was the only person who scanned into Crestone’s eastern entrance from midnight to 9 a.m. on Feb. 16, doing so twice less than 20 minutes prior to the police responding to the shots fired.
During the Sept. 3 hearing, Judge Shakes ruled that Jordan will face both charges of first-degree murder, the single menacing charge and all three violent crime sentence enhancers for the shooting at trial if one happens. All charges related to Jordan’s alleged assault of the deputy while in jail are also ready for trial.
Jordan remains in jail on a $5 million bond.
Nicholas Jordan during a preliminary hearing Sept. 3. Photo by Lillian Davis.