Some 400 area residents will be summoned to appear at the Montezuma County courthouse in January for jury duty.
At a pretrial conference this week, legal teams indicated they were ready to proceed in the case of a convicted sex offender charged with multiple child sex crimes. But despite the ready announcement, Public Defender Amy R. Smith requested a delay.
Missing the court’s deadline, Smith filed two late defense motions connected to grand jury proceedings. On Monday, Dec. 15, she argued the trial should be stayed until the court ruled on the motions. Prosecutors objected, citing the motions were untimely and without merit.
Chief District Court Judge Doug Walker said he had to review the defense requests, but indicated the trial would start on Jan. 5, saying 400 potential jurors would be summoned. A jury of 12 and two alternates will decide the case.
“It’s going to take us several days to pick a jury,” said Walker.
At trial, the defendant, Andrew Allmon, 55, of North State Street will be allowed to dress in plain clothes. The suspect has remained in custody at the Montezuma County jail since his arrest in June 2013.
Allmon was indicted by a grand jury on 13 charges. Counts 1-9 include child sex assault charges, some of which are stipulated as crimes of violence, and counts 10-13 include felony and misdemeanor drug charges.
Court records reveal the defendant allegedly committed the child sexual assault offenses within six weeks of inviting a homeless family to move into his Cortez home. A convicted sex offender, Allmon allegedly abused the youngest of three daughters, an 8-year-old, multiple times in June 2013. Records show the defendant also allegedly drugged the father of the minor child with Oxytocin.
The alleged victim reportedly told authorities during a forensics interview that Allmon not only touched her, but he also forced her to touch him. The mother testified at a grand jury hearing that Allmon was like a grandfather to the children.
If convicted, Allmon could be sentenced to life behind bars, said Walker.
Allmon was previously convicted in 2008 on charges of false imprisonment and sexual assault of a minor in San Juan County N.M.
tbaker@cortezjournal.com
