This past weekend, terror broke out in downtown Denver as Elijah Caudill carried out a brutal stabbing spree along the 16th Street Mall, killing two strangers and injuring two others. Caudill, a man with a documented history of violent behavior and repeated failures to comply with court orders, was inexplicably free despite multiple pending charges and a judge’s prior determination that he posed a substantial risk to the public. Released on his own recognizance without meaningful supervision, Caudill’s unchecked freedom culminated in senseless violence that has left the city grappling with the devastating consequences of a broken judicial system.
Colorado law defines appropriate bail as “an amount” that is reasonably necessary to ensure the defendant’s appearance in court and protect the safety of individuals in the community. In the case of the senseless murders on the 16th Street Mall, releasing someone with such a criminal history and a record of failing to appear in court on what amounts to a “get out of jail free” card is, itself, downright criminal. Ultimately, the individual — whom a prior judge deemed a “substantial risk to the public” — was released on his own recognizance, allegedly to a state treatment program that lacked legal authority to take custody of defendants.
As reported, the case for which a warrant was issued for the defendant at the time of the stabbings involves a series of violent actions — contrary to Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas’ characterization of the defendant as non-violent. These actions include placing a woman in a chokehold, physically assaulting several individuals in jail and exposing himself, in addition to a prior stint in prison for assaulting a man with a knife…