Former Clear Creek County Deputy Andrew Buen faces a second-degree murder charge, among others, for shooting and killing Christian Glass in 2022.
CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, Colo —
The jury has heard nearly a week of testimony in the trial for the former Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office deputy who shot and killed 22-year-old Christian Glass.
On Thursday, the jury heard from a key witness in several high-profile police misconduct cases, who told the jury that police officers did nearly everything wrong the night of Glass’ death almost two years ago. Seth Stoughton testified that Glass was in crisis and former Deputy Andrew Buen should never have fired his gun.
Defense attorneys for Buen argued that Glass was not experiencing a mental health crisis and instead said he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The question of whether Buen’s use of lethal force was excessive and unreasonable is up to the jury to decide.
The prosecution is set to call more witnesses as the trial continues Friday.
Prosecutors say Glass called 911 for help after he got his car stuck on a boulder in Silver Plume in June 2022. He appeared to be experiencing a mental health crisis when several officers engaged with him for more than an hour. Buen then broke Glass’ car window, shot him with bean bag rounds, and used a Taser on him before shooting him five times in the chest.
Buen is charged with second-degree murder, official misconduct, and reckless endangerment. Stoughton testified that he never should have fired his gun.
In November 2022, a Clear Creek grand jury indicted Buen alongside his supervisor, former Clear Creek deputy Kyle Gould, who wasn’t at the scene that night. According to court documents, Gould was watching the encounter with Glass via a live-streamed 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 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’s 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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