Clear Creek County jury deliberates fate of former deputy charged with murder

Andrew Buen either intended to kill Christian Glass, who was testing his patience during a mental health breakdown, or he shot the 22-year-old to save the life of another officer whom Glass was threatening with a knife.

During closing arguments in the former Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office deputy’s murder trial Wednesday, opposing attorneys agreed on one thing: Glass’ death was a tragic event that could have been avoided.

The question during Wednesday's closing statements: Who was responsible for keeping the fatal shooting from happening?

The 10-women, two-men jury of Clear Creek County residents began deliberations after lunch. The final 12 were whittled down from an original pool of 1,500 jury summonses that were sent out to one-in-six people who live in the county. 

The fatal shooting, which gained national attention, occurred June 10-11, 2022, on a remote mountain road near Silver Plume just before midnight.

Glass had turned off of I-70 eastbound to avoid cars on the highway which he told the 911 dispatcher he thought were following him. He did a U-turn navigating the dark and got stuck in between two rocks. During the 10-minute phone call, Glass apologized, rambled about skinwalkers and said that he had recently experienced a “spiritual awakening.”

He also told the operator that he loved her.

When Clear Creek County deputies Buen and Tim Collins responded to what was classified as a “motorist assist,” 911 dispatcher Paige Kincade told the jury that Glass sounded paranoid and was making no sense.

A second 911 dispatch operator, Katie Culp, testified that she thought Glass was on drugs. 

A little more than an hour of tedious negotiation later, Buen received the order from his shift supervisor Kyle Gould to break Glass' passenger side window, which he did, setting in motion the final confusing and violent moments of Glass' life.

In an attempt to force Glass to leave his car, Buen then shot six bean bag rounds at him and tased him. When Buen's taser didn't work, former Georgetown Marshall Randy Williams also tased Glass, who panicked and screamed, body camera video shows. When Glass waved his switchblade knife toward Williams through a broken back driver's side window, Buen shot him five times with his service pistol. 

The five shots took three seconds. 

Defense attorney Carrie Slinkard said that Glass was suspected to have been driving either drunk or high, disobeyed Buen’s order to leave his car and eventually endangered Williams, which gave Buen reason to eliminate Glass as a threat. 

On the other hand, 5th Judicial District Attorney Heidi McCollum said Buen did just about everything wrong during the encounter, starting with yelling aggressive commands to a frightened young man who was experiencing a mental-health crisis.

At the beginning of her closing statement, McCollum played Buen’s own voice from his body-worn camera ordering Glass 46 times in less than 10 minutes to step out of the car, unlock the doors and roll down his windows.

“He (Glass) was terrified, holding rocks for comfort,” said McCollum. “Mr. Buen wanted to get Christian out of his car and ladies and gentlemen, he got him out.”

Buen took notes and watched quietly as his attorney Slinkard explained that his aggression was “not a criminal issue. He didn’t know this kid. He had no motive or reason to kill him.”

She added that Glass presented a threat to the seven officers who responded to his 911 call. Throughout the nine-day trial, Slinkard has noted that Glass had many potential weapons within reach, including several large, jagged rocks, a couple of knives, and a rock hammer.

Buen, 30, has been charged with second-degree murder, reckless endangerment and professional misconduct. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

5th Judicial District Judge Catherine Cheroutes explained to the jury that they could choose lesser offenses to the murder charge, including manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide.

Gould, who gave the order to breach Glass' SUV window as he watched the event unfold over a live body-worn camera feed from his home, received two years of probation for pleading guilty to failing to intervene in excessive force by a peace officer.

The other six officers, from five different jurisdictions, have been charged with failure to stop the situation while it was happening.

Glass’ mother, Sally, testified that her son was on his way home from a three-day art retreat in Moab during which he was collecting rocks. Two of those were on the console of his 2007 Honda Pilot.

Sally Glass and her husband, Simon, sat in the center of the front row for the entire trial. During Wednesday’s closings, Simon Glass often leaned forward, his head in his hands. Although she knows what happened when her son died, Sally Glass sobbed as attorneys described what happened.

Buen’s mother has also been in the courtroom, sitting quietly in front of him with little emotion. She said that she wasn’t nervous about the outcome of the trial because it’s in God’s hands.

Buen could get at least 48 years in prison if convicted of the second degree murder charge alone, according to 5th Judicial Chief District Attorney Stephen Potts.

"This is not a who-done-it," Potts told the jury during his closing rebuttal. He asked them to imagine what it would be like to have an officer break their car window and then shoot bean bag rounds at them.

"It's not reasonable," he said. 

Slinkard told the jury that it would have been great to call a hostage negotiator or a mental health team, but “that doesn’t exist here.” She said “all you have is two officers responsible for 400 miles of territory.” 

She also implied to the jury that Glass was intoxicated that night, but the autopsy report showed that his blood alcohol level was .01. In Colorado, the lowest threshold for alcohol consumption a person can be arrested for is .08 or higher.

The autopsy also showed that Glass had some Delta-9 THC — the intoxicating element in cannabis — in his system and evidence of amphetamines, which could have been his ADHD medication.

Cheroutes ruled Glass' toxicology report was not allowed as evidence during the trial. The reasoning for that was unclear. 

When the jury received the case, Sally Glass ran from the courtroom in tears.

"This has been a lot," said a friend who had followed her out.

Also in tears was Buen's sister, Jennifer Buen.

"We've lost someone too," said Buen, who left the courtroom with her daughter several times during closings. She lifted her glasses and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. "He didn't become a cop for this."