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Man charged in county building break-in to represent himself at trial

Guidice

A man accused of burglarizing the Grand County Administration Building in December will take three cases to trial with plans to represent himself.

On April 29, James Guidice, 46, pleaded not guilty to several charges, leading to the scheduling of three trials throughout the summer.

Guidice was first arrested in Grand when he was allegedly caught trespassing and stealing from a private property off US Highway 40 in October.



He was arrested a second time in December on charges of trespassing and motor vehicle theft. On the day he bonded out of jail for those charges, Guidice was arrested a third time for allegedly trying to break into sheriff’s office vehicles and burglarizing the county admin building.

“What I’m going to present to the people of the state is exactly the chain of events that happened to lead to such heinous allegations against me,” Guidice said in court April 29.



The first trial, in which Guidice is charged with trespassing, possession of a controlled substance, criminal mischief, theft and possession of a bank financial device, is scheduled for trial Aug. 2-4.

Charges in the second case, which is scheduled for trial June 21-23, include aggravated motor vehicle theft, possession of a controlled substance, possession of paraphernalia, criminal possession of an identification document, criminal possession of a financial device, violation of protection order, two counts of trespassing and three counts of violating bond conditions.

Guidice’s third case, which includes charges of burglary, theft, possession of burglary tools, two counts of attempted criminal trespass and three counts of violation bond conditions, is expected to go to trial July 20-21 and July 23.

By sending his cases to trial, 14th Judicial District Chief Deputy Attorney Kathryn Dowdell explained in court that Guidice was giving up the opportunity for a plea deal that would’ve addressed his Grand County cases, as well as charges he faces in Larimer County.

Despite not having seen the deal, Guidice was adamant that he wanted to go to trial. Because Guidice doesn’t have an attorney and plans to represent himself in court even though he doesn’t have a law degree or legal education, Judge Mary Hoak gave him an Arguello advisement, which is required in Colorado for anyone waiving their right to counsel. Guidice also denied advisory counsel.

Hoak also questioned whether Guidice wanted to keep his cases separate or join them all together. Guidice insisted he wanted the cases separate but said he planned to reference his other cases in trial, which Hoak tried to explain might not be allowed by the court.

“If you’re going to do that, Mr. Guidice, then you should put all your cases together because I don’t know that I’m going to let you talk about the other cases in your trial,” Hoak said. “If you don’t put them altogether then you have to ask me whether or not you can talk about everything and I don’t know that I’m going to find it relevant.”

Ultimately, Guidice moved forward without joining the cases. He is scheduled to be back in court on May 27 for a motions hearing regarding his first trial.


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