Defense rests in Andy Buen murder trial with bombshell

Attorneys for both sides were determined to give the jury the most powerful final word in a murder trial that could send a former Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office deputy to jail for decades.

Closing arguments will begin Wednesday morning in a case involving 70 minutes of disturbing video footage that ended with 22-year-old Christian Glass' death while inside of his car by officer gunfire. Glass called 911 the night of June 10-11, 2022 when his SUV high-centered between two rocks.

Andy Buen, 30, and former Clear Creak County sheriff deputy Tim Collins responded to what started out as a "motorist assist" call and evolved into a tense negotiation to try and get Glass to unlock the doors of his vehicle and step out. Prosecutors said Glass was terrified and experiencing a mental health crisis. Buen's attorneys have implied that Glass was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, non-compliant and eventually an imminent threat.

Five officers from four different agencies eventually joined Buen and Collins on the ground that night and surrounded Glass' vehicle. Buen assumed the lead on-scene. His supervisor, Kyle Gould, was watching the negotiation from his home as it unfolded on a police body camera live-stream. It was Gould who gave the order to break Glass' side window.

Buen breached the window, shot six bean bag rounds into the car hitting Glass, tased him and shot him five times — an action that 5th Judicial District Attorney Heidi McCollum called "excessive and criminal." But a defense use-of-force expert testified Buen's actions were "reasonable" because Glass brandished a knife toward an officer.  

Buen is facing charges of second-degree murder, reckless endangerment and professional misconduct in Glass’ death. He’s pleaded not-guilty to all charges.

On the witness stand Tuesday morning, lead investigator Agent Derek Graham, with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, pored over 200 pages of Buen's training records searching for information on the former deputy's background. Graham said that he had no reason to believe that Buen had "substandard training" in de-escalation tactics, nor on how to deal with a mental health crisis.

He testified that Buen was POST-certified in 2020 and that he had the required training in driving arrests, firearms, taser, knife defense, interacting with the public, SWAT, how to clear a car, DUI detection, crossfire situations and defense tactics. Buen's law enforcement education included a stint with the Jefferson Mental Health Center to handle stressful hostage situations.

Prosecutors also interviewed Clear Creek County Records Clerk Nicole Lentz, who verified Buen's records.

CBI's Graham testified that Buen had at least 700 hours of training, with an additional 76 hours in 2022. 

Graham related his own experience as a patrol officer with the Colorado Springs Police Department, pointing out that while in a crisis negotiation "you try to talk as long as you can," he said, adding that it works to talk with people in a calm voice, show empathy, and to keep a repertoire going.

"Time is your friend," he said.

Upon cross examination, defense attorney Carrie Slinkard brought up the fact that Graham, a longtime homicide detective, had not been on patrol for 30 years.

She told jurors that de-escalation training requirements for officers used to be a two-hour session every other year and has been recently beefed-up to a four-hour annual session. She also implied that Glass may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol and could have been arrested for DUI or DUID had he followed Buen's orders and gotten out of the car. Regarding Buen's history of dealing with people, she said: "there are no records or suggestions that Deputy Buen was not good at interacting with civilians correct?"

Graham answered: "No." 

Intimate relationship

A small courtroom bombshell dropped Tuesday with the final defense witness.

One of the dispatch operators who took Glass' 911 call the night he died admitted that she had an intimate relationship with defendant Buen.

"Do we want to go there?" 5th Judicial Chief District Attorney Stephen Potts quietly asked District Attorney Heidi McCollum before continuing questioning.

Potts then asked Katie Culp if she and Buen were "intimate." 

She answered: "It was rumored we had history. It's not an intimate relationship," she said, but when pressed for a short answer, she responded that they were together "for a short period of time, yes."

Potts countered: "It's a pretty simple question, yes or no. Not now, but you were?"

She answered: "There was history. Correct."

Mental health crisis or high?

Earlier, Culp told defense attorney Taylor Frandsen that because of the way Glass was talking on the 10-minute 911 call, she immediately thought he was on drugs, specifically "fairly consistent with people I’ve spoken with who are on methamphetamines." 

On the call, Glass, 22, spoke of being afraid of skinwalkers, which defense attorney Slinkard pointed out may have come from a Netflix series "The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch" about property in Utah called Sherman Ranch. Glass was on his way home from a trip to Moab, Utah when he got stuck on a remote mountain road outside of Silver Plume. 

Culp told Potts on redirect that she did not think that Glass was undergoing a mental health crisis at the time of the 911 call and so she did not advise officers of such a condition. 

Glass told Culp, who was in the call center, that he had two knives, a hammer and a rubber mallet, which he said that he would throw out the window once deputies arrived.

"Officers had that information when they went there, right?" Potts asked.

"Yes," said Culp. 

Potts asked: "Whether he was or was not having a mental health crisis, you wouldn't know that either right?" 

"No. I wouldn't," she answered.

Closing statements from each side are scheduled for Wednesday morning, and the jury could have the case by lunchtime.