Independence Pass defendant denies multiple allegations – Aspen Daily News

The Colorado Springs man who police say held three men at gunpoint last summer on Independence Pass has denied the allegations in response to a lawsuit.

In addition to the denials, Brolin McConnell, 31, also maintains his Fifth Amendment rights, which guard against self-incrimination.

McConnell faces criminal charges of attempted murder, first-degree kidnapping and menacing, among other counts. He has been in jail ever since his arrest on July 27, 2016, following what the alleged victims said was a terrifying and frightening ordeal on Lincoln Creek Road.

Its unclear why McConnell, a Front Range real estate agent, allegedly held the men hostage and made bizarre statements and demands, including one for $100 million. Law enforcement initially suspected he was on methamphetamine, but a drug screen showed only a trace of marijuana in his blood.

He shot twice near one hostage, including a bullet that whizzed by the mans ear, causing hearing damage, according to the lawsuit and police reports. That man and two others were able to escape, and McConnell surrendered after being rushed by sheriffs deputies and an Aspen police officer at gunpoint. He has been held in jail on a $500,000 bond ever since.

In June, the three men sued him in Pitkin County District Court, claiming assault, battery, false imprisonment, extreme and outrageous conduct and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

The criminal case has halted after the district attorneys office appealed a judges dismissal or reduction, in February, of three felony counts, including attempted murder after deliberation, though a charge of attempted murder with extreme indifference was upheld. The disputed charges are now in the hands of the Colorado Court of Appeals.

McConnell has yet to speak in court or enter a plea; his first attorney waived advisement of the charges. At a preliminary hearing in January, in which a judge upheld some of the charges and dismissed or reduced others leading to the appeal Sarah Oszczakiewicz said the current bond was appropriate to protect the public. She cited jail recordings of conversations McConnell had with family members that show him instructing relatives to sell all his possessions to pay for legal representation. That includes multiple firearms, including AR-15 and AK-47 rifles, she said, adding that McConnell told his family he wanted to go live in the woods and forgo society.

On July 24, McConnells attorney, Scott Mikulecky of Colorado Springs, answered the lawsuit with a filing in which all of the allegations are denied.

The plaintiffs claims are barred or reduced by failure to mitigate their damages, the answer says, employing standard, boiler-plate legalese. Defendant expressly reserves all Fifth Amendment rights and privileges.

On Tuesday, Mikulecky moved to stay the lawsuit.

Defendant contends that in order to avoid undue prejudice against him, and to allow him and his counsel to prepare for the criminal trial, this court should stay these civil proceedings until the criminal trial has been completed, says the motion to stay the civil proceeding.

It says that McConnell, during the criminal proceeding, will be advised by his attorneys to invoke the Fifth Amendment in relation to the lawsuit.

And not until the criminal trial is concluded, and any appeals exhausted, will defendant be instructed by counsel that he will no longer have the ability to invoke these Fifth Amendment rights, Mikulecky wrote.

The motion, which the plaintiffs attorney, Ryan Kalamaya of Aspen, did not oppose, was approved by a judge on Wednesday.

chad@aspendailynews.com

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Independence Pass defendant denies multiple allegations - Aspen Daily News