WALSENBURG — A preliminary hearing in the first degree murder case against 51-year old Ralph Candelario was rescheduled Tuesday morning by District Judge Claude Appel on a motion by defense attorney Dariel Weaver. Judge Appel set the date for the show cause hearing for January 30, 2015 for a full day and for February 17th, if additional time is necessary. The defendant, in response to the judge’s question asking if he was waiving his right to the preliminary hearing beyond the 35-day statutory time limit, said “yes I am.” Weaver also addressed a pair of defense motions concerning evidence testing and extrajudicial remarks she believes have been made. “Someone is talking to the press,” Weaver said. She asked the court to clarify what is, and what is not ok to tell the press. She said regarding press inquiries, “It’s concerning to me, and it’s persistant. I’m asking, essentially, for a gag order.” Judge Appel asked special prosecutor Matthew Durkin, Deputy Attorney General, what his feelings were on the issue and he answered, “We don’t see a need for an order.” Judge Appel advised both the defense and prosecution get together and work out either a combined motion or separate ones to address the concern. “I’m just not going to make something up,” Appel said. The motion, if made, will be heard during a
scheduled motions hearing set for January 9, 2015. Regarding evidence testing; Weaver said the prosecution has not responded to the defense motion seeking to have their expert witness present during any evidence testing performed by the state. Durkin said he felt the motion was premature as prosecutors are still going over evidence in the case. Appel entered an interim order saying the defense must be notified one week in advance of any evidence testing. It was revealed three envelopes containing medical records concerning the defendant were picked up by prosecutors Tuesday morning from Walsenburg Police Captain Vince Suarez. The records will remain sealed in the court file. Weaver reminded the court that all waivers made by the defendant earlier had been revoked with the exception of the preliminary hearing time limit.
