The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“A very emotional case that just racked this community”
By Katherine Nettles
In a two-hour court hearing on Monday, January 8, former Crested Butte resident Charles Cliggett was sentenced on three traffic counts of which he had been found guilty based on a 2022 accident in which a local bicyclist was killed. He was sentenced by Judge Deborah Grohs of the 4th District Court to three years of probation, 200 hours of community service within Gunnison County, restitution payment and was ordered to complete a Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) course on vehicle-bicyclist safety.
The 74-year-old Cliggett had been driving south on Highway 135 on November 7, 2022 when his vehicle struck and killed Mitch Hoffman, a 71-year-old resident of Crested Butte who was bicycling in the same direction. Both men were long-time locals in the Gunnison Valley.
Cliggett was charged with four counts based on the accident: careless driving resulting in death, improperly overtaking a bicycle on the left, criminally negligent homicide and vehicular homicide. He stood trial for three days in October 2023 and was found guilty by a jury on three of the four counts: careless driving resulting in death, improperly overtaking a bicycle on the left and criminally negligent homicide. Criminally negligent homicide is considered a class 5 felony in Colorado and can be punished by up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
He was found not guilty of vehicular homicide.
His sentencing on Monday was an emotional one, with almost two hours of testimony from both Hoffman’s and Cliggett’s family and friends and from Cliggett himself. First, Hoffman’s widow, Carolyn Paul, spoke.
“My life was forever changed on November 7, 2022. There is no good reason he is gone,” Paul said of Hoffman, with whom she said she shared many plans for their future. “We thought we had so much more time together.” Paul said it was clear that Cliggett was not paying adequate attention to his surroundings that day, and asked Judge Grohs for a maximum sentence based on her belief that Cliggett had not shown due remorse for his part in her husband’s death.
“Mr. Cliggett needs to be held responsible for the consequences of his actions. Please do justice to my husband’s memory,” she concluded. The prosecutor for the case, deputy district attorney Darren Struble, also stated there had been an apparent lack of remorse demonstrated by Cliggett, even after a jury found him guilty of three counts, and requested a minimum jail sentence of 30 days, 150 hours of public service and a longer period of probation as well as the CDOT driver/bicyclist safety course.
Next, Cliggett’s daughter and wife spoke, along with more than half a dozen of his close friends and acquaintances from his 40-year law career and various volunteer endeavors. All spoke of Cliggett’s integrity, family values, community contributions and his remorse for the tragic incident. Most said it had taken an irreversible toll on his psychological and physical health, including the heart attack he suffered three days after the accident.
Last, Cliggett spoke for the first time during the legal process.
“I recognize what a tragedy this is for Mr. Hoffman’s family. It’s terrible. It’s incomparable,” said Cliggett. He said not a day or night goes by without him thinking of Hoffman and the tragic ending to his life and what a terrible loss it was to Hoffman’s wife and others who loved him.
Cliggett said there were no winners in this situation, and that he took offense at accusations that he was unremorseful or uncaring. He said he had pleaded not guilty because he found the homicide charges to be unfounded, and maintained that he had not committed any crime beyond the misdemeanor charge of improper passing. “I needed to and did stand by my principles,” he said, and repeated that a plea deal unrepresentative of his reality would have been “taking the easy way out.”
Given that Cliggett practiced law in the 7th Judicial District for decades, the judges of that court had recused themselves from the case. Judge Grohs from the 4th Judicial District Front Range had been selected to oversee the proceedings, and she too became emotional as she spoke of the impact this case has had on a community she is also familiar with as a previous homeowner in Almont and Mt. Crested Butte.
“This was a very emotional case that just racked this community,” she said. “But everyone handled it with professionalism.” She said the jury had been very thoughtful, as evidenced from the questions they asked and their post-trial interviews.
“To have the privilege of being in this community,” she said, somewhat overcome herself, “Obviously I feel your emotion.”
Judge Grohs then outlined some challenges in the sentencing, including that in the criminal justice system a defendant exercising their constitutional right to remain silent and to undergo a trial has “the unfortunate effect on people to dig in on their own thoughts and feelings,” and the defendant can appear unremorseful in exercising their rights.
“We cannot judge them in the system based on how we think we would have behaved in their position,” she said. “It’s easy for the public or the victim’s family and friends to think he doesn’t care because he isn’t saying anything and he is going to trial.
“He was charged with vehicular homicide and he disagreed with it. And he was right; the jury agreed that he was not guilty of vehicular homicide…
“The jury found that Mr. Cliggett’s actions were negligent and careless,” she said.
She said in the pre-sentence investigation she ordered, the legal system looked at both aggravating factors and mitigating factors. The aggravating factor was that Mitch Hoffman was deceased. The mitigating factor, she noted, was the background of the defendant. “He is 74 years old with no prior criminal record whatsoever. There was no alcohol, no drugs, no speeding involved. He has contributed to his community throughout his life.
“I cannot tell you how different this case is from every other case I’ve presided over in the past 17 years,” continued Judge Grohs. She said when the probation department looks at what it might take to “correct” a person, “There’s nothing I can say that is what Mr. Cliggett needs. He has already been and will forever be punished.”
She concluded, “I don’t feel that a jail sentence is appropriate,” but gave a suspended jail sentence for the two felony counts which means it will not be served if Cliggett completes his other sentencing requirements. Judge Grohs sentenced him to three years’ probation, from which she would entertain a motion for dismissal after two years; 200 hours of community service that must take place in Gunnison County; the CDOT driver/bicyclist safety course; and for the misdemeanor charge, a $100 fine. Last, Judge Grohs ordered Cliggett to pay restitution, and the prosecution requested additional time to file that request. Cliggett has been residing in Florida, but Judge Grohs said she could not grant permission for him to transfer his probation there due to inter-state laws. She said she would be agreeable to it if the requirements of the inter-state criminal justice system were met, but was adamant that he must complete his community service in the Gunnison Valley.
Paul also filed a civil suit against Cligget for the wrongful death of her husband in November 2023. A planning conference deadline is set for on or before February 7, 2024.
