{"id":2443388,"date":"2019-04-24T20:40:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T02:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/opening-statements-describe-different-motivations-in-trial\/"},"modified":"2019-04-24T20:40:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-25T02:40:00","slug":"opening-statements-describe-different-motivations-in-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/opening-statements-describe-different-motivations-in-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening statements describe different motivations in trial"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Opening statements from the defense and prosecution teams were heard Wednesday morning as the first-degree murder trial for Michael Montgomery commenced in Glenwood Springs.<\/p>\n

Montgomery, 46, is accused of murdering his son-in-law Christopher Gallegos, then 28, in March 2017, outside an apartment complex in Rifle.<\/p>\n

While 9th Judicial District Judge Denise Lynch initially reduced the charges in July 2018, the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed that decision a few months later.<\/p>\n

In an Oct. 18 order, Appellate Judge Anthony Navarro sided with prosecution stating that the 9th District Court \u201capplied an erroneous legal standard\u201d in dismissing the first-degree murder charge and another charge of felony menacing.<\/p>\n

According to Colorado statute, first-degree murder is defined as both intentional and premeditated.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Prosecutor Zachary Parsons began opening arguments by discussing what the evidence would show the jury throughout the trial.<\/p>\n

While it remains unclear what exactly happened March 29, 2017, outside the Acacia Apartments in Rifle, Parsons argued Montgomery\u2019s fatal shot to the head that killed Gallegos was premeditated.<\/p>\n

Parsons asked the jury to look at who the initial aggressor was in the incident, and whether he was provoked in any way, and if lesser force could\u2019ve been used.<\/p>\n

According to the prosecution, Montgomery was upset with Gallegos leading up to the confrontation.<\/p>\n

The defense questioned that claim.<\/p>\n

According to the arrest affidavit, Desirae Montgomery told police investigators that \u201cthere has always been a lot of tension between Christopher Gallegos and Michael Montgomery.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the defense painted a slightly different picture.<\/p>\n

Both prosecution and defense testimony seemed to indicate that Montgomery arrived at the Acacia Apartments on March 29 looking for money for narcotics he allegedly sold Anthony Bracamontes.<\/p>\n

Montgomery arrived at the Acacia Apartments on March 29, 2017, looking for Bracamontes, according to witness statements in the arrest affidavit.<\/p>\n

He knocked on one of the apartment doors of the complex and asked Gallegos and the witness where Bracamontes was, states the affidavit.<\/p>\n

Bracamontes came a short time later, and he and Montgomery both went out to the front of the apartment building, both the prosecution and defense testimonies indicated.<\/p>\n

What happened after that, and why, is where their accounts differ.<\/p>\n

The prosecution argued the interaction fit the legal definition of menacing, as Bracamontes was in fear of being hurt or dying.<\/p>\n

Defense attorney McCrory argued that the dispute between the two was quashed almost immediately as the two chatted outside.<\/p>\n

He said that Bracamontes apologized, and he and Montgomery were all good. The two even smoked a cigarette outside together, he added.<\/p>\n

Another point of contention was Gallegos and Montgomery\u2019s relationship prior to the shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was not this animosity that the prosecution claims,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

However, once Gallegos came down, reportedly holding a pistol, Montgomery acted in self-defense, the defense claimed.<\/p>\n

McCrory said Montgomery fired once he saw Gallegos raise the weapon that was in his hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will realize there was no premeditation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Determining whether Montgomery\u2019s actions were premeditated and whether he was acting in self-defense will be some of the main questions the jury will have to determine.<\/p>\n

The trial continued with testimony from witnesses Wednesday afternoon, and is scheduled to resume Thursday.<\/p>\n

azorn@citizentelegram.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Opening statements from the defense and prosecution teams were heard Wednesday morning as the first-degree murder trial for Michael Montgomery commenced in Glenwood Springs. Montgomery, 46, is accused of murdering his son-in-law Christopher Gallegos, then 28, in March 2017, outside an apartment complex in Rifle. While 9th Judicial District Judge Denise Lynch initially reduced the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2443388","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-17 06:28:29","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2443388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443388\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2443388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2443388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2443388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}