A Jefferson County judge on Wednesday dismissed the criminal charges against a driver in a fatal crash on Interstate 70 west of Golden two years ago because prosecutors failed to turn over evidence to the defense as required by law.
County Court Judge Corinne Magid found prosecutors missed discovery deadlines multiple times and did not tell defense attorneys about a witness’ exculpatory testimony until the day before a jury trial was set to begin.
She dismissed the careless driving case against Andrew Mittelstadt, 37, after outlining widespread issues with the investigation and prosecution in a 19-page order Wednesday.
Mittelstadt was charged with the traffic offenses of careless driving resulting in death and careless driving resulting in injury after a Dec. 5, 2022, crash on westbound I-70 near the C-470 interchange.
Mittelstadt drove into a vehicle in front of him that was either stopped or driving very slowly on the interstate, court records show. He told investigators he realized traffic ahead was slow, checked his mirror to see if he could move into the passing lane, then looked back ahead and found he could not stop in time to avoid the crash.
A passenger in the car that was hit, Ana Briasco De La Rosa, died at the crash scene, court records show. Another woman was injured but survived.
Over the next year, a witness to the crash told a Colorado State Patrol trooper multiple times that she saw a black SUV cut in front of Mittlelstadt before the crash and that he could not have avoided the collision.
“This exculpatory information was not provided to the defense until one day prior to the original trial setting,” Magid wrote.
The witness’s testimony was just one piece of evidence of many that prosecutors did not provide to the defense on time, Magid found.
Brionna Boatright, spokeswoman for the 1st Judicial District Attorney’s Office, could not immediately comment Wednesday but said prosecutors do not plan to refile the charges.
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Prosecutors missed the deadline to provide a 911 call recording, drone photos of the scene, police reports from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, body-worn camera footage from the sheriff’s office, an accident report from the Golden Fire Department and drone measurements of the scene.
Additional discovery about the medical condition of the surviving victim in the crash was never turned over, the judge wrote.
Prosecutors with the 1st Judicial District Attorney’s Office did not deny the discovery violations, but argued the case could still go forward with less severe sanctions, Magid wrote.
The judge disagreed.
“This evidence was clearly favorable and material to Mr. (Mittelstadt) and the Court finds the evidence was suppressed by the State,” she wrote. “While the Court does not find a willful suppression, the Court does find that it was suppressed inadvertently by failure to accurately document these conversations… The court finds no reasonable and less drastic alternative.”
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