Wellington gun charges in jeopardy

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

A Wellington couple who jumped bail and fled to Canada a year ago remain free in that country waiting for judges and courts to decide whether they should be extradited back to the United States or granted refugee status based on their fear of the American justice system.

Their case hinges on the legal questions of double jeopardy - the concept that a person cannot be tried twice for the same crime--and dual sovereignty, which allows state and federal courts to pursue the same case simultaneously or consecutively.

Michael Welch, 33, and Lori Romero, 36, face numerous felonies if they are returned to Colorado. Among other charges, they are both accused of first-degree assault on a peace officer and menacing with a deadly weapon in connection with a Nov. 2, 2004, standoff at their home, in which Michael Welch Sr., 53, was fatally shot by a sheriff's officer.

Shepherd Moss, a Vancouver, B.C., lawyer representing them in both the extradition and refugee cases, called the chase and standoff a "political act" because they were fighting the policy of double jeopardy.

"The legal issues are a little muddy," he added.

In Larimer County, Assistant District Attorney Cliff Riedel called the fugitives' claims "a bunch of poppycock."

Welch and Romero spent nine months in custody in British Columbia following their Jan. 14, 2006, arrest on warrants issued after they failed to appear for a court proceeding in Fort Collins. Now free on judicial interim release, they have to report to court regularly, Moss said. In the meantime, they can collect social assistance, including health care, and apply for work permits, he said.

Moss said it is a strange circumstance to have an extradition case and refugee claim at the same time. On Jan. 10, a British Columbia court will set a date for the extradition hearing. Should the government convince the court to surrender Welch and Romero, then the politicians will look at the case in light of their refugee claims, he said.

"In this case there are open-ended issues," Moss said. "I don't expect anything to be resolved for probably years."

District Attorney Larry Abrahamson is expecting a more speedy extradition. "I hope that sometime in 2007 we're going to get this resolved," he said. "I don't see anything at this point that says we have lost the battle."

According to Yolanda Welch, mother of Michael Welch Jr., a data entry error in 2002 put a felony conviction on her son's record, and that influenced every subsequent charge because he was thought to be a felon in possession of a firearm.

In 2002, her son was arrested for driving while ability impaired and possession of a pot pipe, both misdemeanors, she explained, but a one-digit typo entered the offense as felony possession of dangerous drugs.

A year later, the Welch family became friends with Blaine Johnson, a man the drug task force was investigating for distributing methamphetamine, she said. She and her husband knew him, however, as a person who liked to hunt and fish, and he was invited to target shoot at their rural property, she said.

The drug investigation led to a no-knock search of the Welch family home on North County Road 7 on July 2, 2003. Yolanda Welch said they must have thought the family had a meth lab. "When they raided our house, they had the whole SWAT team and chemical van," she said. "At least 40 officers raided our house that night."

Her son had a bedroom in the house, but he was living in Wellington with Romero at that time, she said.

Court records indicate the officers found no meth lab, but they did find numerous illegal weapons and 30 marijuana plants. Yolanda and Michael Welch Sr. were not charged with any crimes.

As a result of the raid, the district attorney charged Michael Welch Jr. with 13 felonies and two misdemeanors. Charges included cultivation of marijuana, possession of dangerous weapons, theft by receiving stolen guns and possession of firearms silencers.

A month later, the district attorney asked the judge to dismiss all charges because the matter would be prosecuted in federal court. Welch was charged in U.S. District Court with possession of a machine gun and possession of an unregistered firearm.

The prosecution presented its case to a federal jury in February 2004, and during the trial learned its chief witness, Blaine Johnson, lied while testifying. The prosecuting attorney then asked that charges against Welch be dismissed. U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger agreed, noting that the case against Welch depended on Johnson's testimony.

In March 2004, Welch's defense attorney in the dismissed federal case, Walter Gerash of Denver, cautioned local authorities that filing new state charges would constitute double jeopardy.

According to Yolanda Welch, the family thought that was the end of the criminal charges. "We thought everything was behind us," she said. "We were trying to get our property back." Several of the confiscated weapons are part of an inherited family gun collection, she said.

But state charges were filed again in May 2004. The District Court in Fort Collins issued an arrest warrant for Welch based on evidence from the July 2003 raid. This time, Welch was charged with nine felonies, but he was not arrested.

Yolanda Welch said she learned about the charges in September 2004 when the Fort Collins Coloradoan published that her son was on Larimer County's most-wanted list.

On Nov. 2, 2004, the Colorado State Patrol stopped Lori Romero's car in a routine traffic stop. Michael Welch Sr. and Michael Welch Jr. were passengers. At a press conference held two days later, Trooper Ron Watkins said the patrolman determined the younger Welch was wanted on several felony warrants. When the trooper returned to the car, it sped away, and officers pursued the vehicle at speeds exceeding 100 miles an hour. The Welches and Romero reached their home on County Road 7 and ran into the house.

At the same press conference, Sheriff Jim Alderden said the elder Welch was pointing a sniper rifle at officers surrounding the home just seconds before his officer shot Welch. Former District Attorney Stuart VanMeveren, who investigated the shooting, determined the degree of force was appropriate.

After the shooting, Romero and the younger Welch surrendered. The district attorney charged Romero with five felonies, including vehicular eluding and hindering the arrest of Welch. Prosecutors charged Welch with four felonies related to the standoff.

In March 2005, Welch's court-appointed defense attorney, Stephanie Hewitt, asked District Court Judge Terrance Gilmore to dismiss the charges on the grounds of double jeopardy. Assistant District Attorney Riedel fought the motion, noting that the federal charges were based upon one weapon, and the new state charges cover different weapons. Judge Gilmore sided with the prosecution. His order stated, "... the law is well settled that under the doctrine of dual sovereignty, a state prosecution is not barred by a federal prosecution for the same offense, and vice versa."

Welch and Romero, both free on bond in 2005, were supposed to be in District Court on Jan. 12, 2006, for a pretrial conference but didn't show up. A five-day trial was scheduled to begin on Jan. 24.

Their lawyer in British Columbia views the repeated criminal charges as a "systematic form of persecution." In Canada, a province and the federal government would not prosecute the same crime.

"When is it OK to oppose your government?" Moss asked. "That's what this case is about."