CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, Colo. —
Defense attorneys rested their case on Tuesday in the trial for a former Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office deputy who shot and killed 22-year-old Christian Glass nearly two years ago.
Former Deputy Andrew Buen is charged with second-degree murder, official misconduct and reckless endangerment.
The defense called their final witness Tuesday morning. Katelyn Culp, a former dispatcher for the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office, told the jury that she initially thought Glass was under the influence of drugs when she took his call the night of his death. Under cross examination from the prosecution, Culp also said she and Buen were in an intimate relationship for a short time.
Prosecutors have argued that Glass was experiencing a mental health crisis when he called 911 for help after he got his car stuck on a boulder in Silver Plume in June 2022.
Defense attorneys suggested that Glass was not experiencing a mental health crisis but that he was drunk or on drugs when several officers engaged with him for more than an hour.
After officers unsuccessfully tried to get Glass out his car, Buen broke Glass' car window, shot him with bean bag rounds and used a Taser on him before shooting him five times in the chest.
Culp reviewed the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) log, a compilation of time-coded notes taken over a call. She said she and Paige Kincade, a fellow dispatcher and the trial’s first witness, categorized Glass’ call as a motorist assist rather than a drug offense or psychiatric issue.
Culp testified that she did not know whether Glass was on drugs or experiencing a mental health crisis at the time, though she said she thought the call was “odd” and Glass’ behavior was “concerning.”
She told the jury she did not have training on mental health resources until after the incident.
The jury then heard from Nicole Lentz, records clerk for the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office. She verified Buen’s 200 pages of training records.
Lentz also confirmed the records in Buen’s file were all that she had to turn over to the Colorado Bureau of Investigations (CBI) for their report.
CBI Agent Derek Graham then took the stand again to tell the jury that he did not believe Buen’s police training was insufficient. He testified that Buen had training in de-escalation, use-of-force and arrests, among other procedures and tactics.
He also said that it was unclear whether the mental health training in Buen’s file was from before or after Buen shot Glass.
From his own experience as a crisis negotiator, Graham testified that "time is your friend.” He said it helped to keep your voice calm and show empathy, even if the negotiation took hours.
Both sides will make closing arguments Wednesday morning before handing the case over to the jury.
In November 2022, a Clear Creek County grand jury indicted Buen and his supervisor, former Clear Creek County Deputy Kyle Gould, who wasn’t at the scene that night. According to court documents, Gould watched the encounter with Glass via a livestreamed body-worn camera. He then gave the order for Glass' driver's side window to be broken out.
The 5th Judicial District Attorney's Office offered plea deals to both former Clear Creek County deputies in September 2023.
Gould pleaded guilty that November to duty to report use of force by peace officers - duty to intervene.
He was sentenced to two years' unsupervised probation and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine. As part of the plea agreement, Gould withdrew his POST certification and cannot work as a police officer or security guard in Colorado ever again.
Later that November, the DA’s office charged all six other officers on scene the night of Glass’ death for failing to intervene.
In May 2023, the Glass family was awarded $19 million in a settlement agreement with Clear Creek County, the Colorado State Patrol, the Georgetown Police Department and the Idaho Springs Police Department – all departments with officers on scene that night. Among the many non-economic terms of the settlement, Clear Creek County has implemented a crisis response team to respond to calls. It is the largest police misconduct settlement in Colorado history.
View a full timeline of events in this case here:
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