RSSConvicted murderer seeks new trial
Jason Garner
A Mesa County judge listened to testimony Monday but withheld a ruling on a man’s bid for a new trial in the 1998 slaying of a Gypsum teenager.
Jason Lee Garner, 34, is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder conviction in the death of 18-year-old Coty Vernon.
Garner, whose conviction already has been upheld by the Colorado Court of Appeals, argued in a motion that he received ineffective assistance from local attorneys Marna Lake and Andrew Nolan during his trial in December 2004.
In a motion, Garner’s current attorneys allege that his trial attorneys failed to call medical experts who offered potential favorable testimony for the defense. The claim was among several that were the subject of a hearing Monday before District Judge Valerie Robison.
Prosecutors argued Garner stabbed Vernon in February 1998 in a methamphetamine-fueled rage. While Vernon remained missing, the case was under investigation by a grand jury in December 2002 when an elk hunter found Vernon’s remains in a ravine approximately 10 miles southeast of De Beque.
When asked Monday by District Attorney Pete Hautzinger if meth-induced psychosis can “diminish responsibility” for a crime, addiction expert Dr. Nicholas Taylor testified, “I don’t know.”
“Does it mitigate it? Yes,” Taylor added.
Taylor was among a trio of experts consulted by Garner’s defense, but who weren’t called at trial. Taylor said he also would have told Garner’s jury that meth intoxication increases the odds of someone acting out violently.
Hautzinger questioned how the testimony would have helped Garner’s cause.
“You would have testified crazy people do crazy things?” the DA asked during cross examination Monday.
“Yes,” Taylor replied.
Robison is expected to issue a written ruling on Garner’s new trial request.
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