In Colorado, voters have the right to decide whether or not a judge should be retained. These elections have consequences up and down the ballot for families like ours and yours. We firmly believe that Judge Leutwyler’s actions do not protect our communities or support victims and their families, and thus we do not believe he should be retained.
Stand with victims’ families and against criminals by voting NO on retaining Judge Leutwyler.
TELLING
OUR STORY
Our story is tragic, and we share it with you in hopes that other victims may be spared the callous and careless behavior we suffered in Judge Ben Leutwyler’s court.
Our beautiful 37-year-old daughter and sister, Stacy Pepper, was killed on July 26, 2021, in the most brutal way. Her death was senseless and horrific.
Stacy was the kind of person you were lucky to meet once in a lifetime. She was a good, kind, fun, funny, brilliant, beautiful, and joyful person. Stacy graduated from Stanford University and Stanford Law School, was a fiercely dedicated and tremendously talented lawyer, and a partner at one of the top law firms in the country. She was a mentor to many, and exceptionally gifted at the art of friendship. Stacy’s greatest, deepest, truest love was for her family. She was an incredibly devoted daughter and was immeasurably proud to be one of "the girls": the brightest shining star, guiding light, and boundless source of love, affection, and camaraderie for her two younger sisters.
Knowing we will never again get to share in Stacy’s life fills us with grief and despair that no family should have to experience.
PERPETRATOR'S
ACTIONS
In broad daylight, Evan Michael Joslin set out in a stolen truck filled with drug paraphernalia, despite being under continuous restraint on charges going back nearly a decade. He drove across the median and several lanes of oncoming traffic at high speed near an elementary school and hit Stacy’s car head-on, flipping and crushing it beyond recognition. The violence of the crash shocked veteran police and fire rescue teams from three different districts, taking police more than 3 hours to extract Stacy’s broken body from the wreckage. She was only minutes from home. Stacy’s catastrophic death was not an accident but the result of a monstrous serial criminal who showed time and time again that he was a danger to our community.
After leaving Stacy trapped inside, he heartlessly ran unharmed from the scene after grabbing evidence in the stolen truck, leaving her to die while he hid. We were forced to bury Stacy while her killer was still at large.
After two weeks of running and hiding, he was identified by Crime Stoppers and subsequently arrested, paid bond and was immediately released without condition.
He is suspected of being involved in a spree of burglaries up to and including the morning of Stacy’s homicide and being under the influence of drugs and alcohol while driving illegally and recklessly.
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​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​He was charged with multiple felonies: Leaving the Scene of a Crash Involving Death, Vehicular Homicide Reckless Driving, Driving Under Restraint, Speeding, Registration of a fictitious plate, and the most serious charge of First-Degree Assault Extreme Indifference which is a crime of violence. He was exposed to up to 32 years in prison just for the single crime of violence charge which is also a charge that requires a higher percentage of time served before being eligible for parole, and 18 additional years for the remaining felonies.
After bond conditions were imposed, he violated them almost immediately. A warrant was issued for his arrest, but he failed to appear at the hearing. His bond was increased and another warrant was placed for his arrest. We later learned an officer of the court witnessed Joslin fleeing the courthouse--he cut off his ankle monitor and was on the run again.We found ourselves re-victimized, uncertain if he would ever be caught or held accountable for Stacy’s brutal death.
Joslin was captured in Denver by a federal joint task force charged with finding dangerous fugitives who are a threat to public safety. When he was caught, he was committing crimes displaying behavior strikingly similar to when he violently crushed and killed Stacy. He was driving another stolen truck and in possession of many stolen weapons, including AR-15s with thousands of rounds of ammunition. He tried to flee again just like he did after killing Stacy, but was caught and injured by a police dog. He was then taken to the hospital where he assaulted and seriously injured a police officer in the process of attempting to escape a 4th time.
Joslin was now charged with seven new felonies in these unrelated Denver crimes including 2 counts of possessions of a weapon by a previous offender, gun theft, aggravated motor vehicle theft, assault on a peace officer, flight from felony, 2nd Degree assault with intent to cause bodily injury. Taken together, the defendant's seven charged felonies in Denver exposed him to 28 additional years of sentencing.
Joslin is now a five-time-convicted felon with an extensive criminal record, involved in criminal activity and ignoring the punishment placed upon him dating back to 2009. This is a man whose actions escalated in severity—he has violated protection orders, failed to appear in court 10 or more times, had at least three instances of revoked probation, and has been caught driving with a revoked license five times, including when he killed Stacy and while evading arrest in Denver.
JUSTICE DENIED TO US
Given the perpetrator’s heinous actions, Judge Leutwyler had a duty to mitigate the risk this dangerous criminal poses to our community for as long as possible. Judge Leutwyler did not perform his role and responsibility in several critical areas of the judicial process as listed below. He exhibited a cavalier attitude toward the facts and details surrounding the proceedings, diluted another Judge’s ruling, relinquished his power, and dismissed the victims as merely a grieving family where no outcome would provide satisfaction.
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Judge Leutwyler had a responsibility to accurately award Presentence Confinement Credit. Instead, and in violation of the law and statute he irresponsibly awarded Stacy’s killer duplicative credit, giving him more days of pre-sentence confinement credit than allowed by law, benefitting a violent recidivist at the expense of justice for Stacy.
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Judge Leutwyler negligently allowed for this unearned award to be included in a plea deal, making it uncorrectable. Stacy’s killer, a five-time-convicted felon, will now be released earlier than he earned, putting the safety of our community at risk. As victims, we had to fight for five more months to try and get answers and correct this unlawful award, all to no avail because of Judge Leutwyler’s actions and inactions.
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Judge Leutwyler demonstrated that he was unprepared when he stated that he had no sentencing statistics in front of him.
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Judge Leutwyler used sloppy, insulting rhetoric to deflect from his responsibility. He dismissed and falsely mischaracterized our law-based request for justice as simply emotional. He offensively suggested that we were seeking “Old Testament Justice” when he knew we supported an 18-year plea deal that both defense and prosecution were prepared to move forward with in his own courtroom. At trial, the defendant was exposed to 32 years for his crime of violence and 18 years for the remaining felonies.
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Judge Leutwyler focused on his judicial limitations rather than focusing on his judicial options. He had the power to reject the reduced plea deal. He knew that the primary reason for the reduced deal was that the defendant demanded a reduction (under threat of trial) because he had underestimated the seriousness of the consequences of his actions for violent unrelated felonies he committed in Denver after Stacy’s homicide while out on bond and fleeing justice. Judge Leutwyler knew the facts of Stacy’s homicide and this case had not changed and that the reduction had nothing to do with Stacy’s homicide. The parties in Arapahoe, including Judge Leutwyler, rewarded the defendant 5 years (30% reduction) for his miscalculation at the expense of justice for Stacy and public safety, and effectively diluted another Judge’s sentencing.
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Judge Leutwyler did not utter a single syllable of admonition, condemnation, or counsel to a 5-time convicted felon with a 10 year plus criminal history who was being sentenced for his decisions and actions that resulted in the catastrophic and heartbreaking death of our beloved daughter. Instead, Judge Leutwyler directed all of his remarks towards our family, the victims. His remarks echoed false statements from the prosecutor, contradictions, and careless rhetoric.
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Judge Leutwyler dismissed facts in addition to introducing nonexistent evidence in defense of the killer.
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Judge Leutwyler’s actions during this sentencing were callous, careless, irresponsible, and unjust. At every turn, he centered his actions benefitting a violent perpetrator instead of a grieving family righteously pursuing justice for our loved one. Vote NO on retaining Judge Ben Leutwyler.
