An election tampering cost filed towards a Pueblo man accused of eradicating an official seal and pulling a USB port from a voting machine throughout the June 2022 primaries has been dismissed.
A Pueblo District Courtroom choose ordered Richard Patton, 32, to endure an outpatient psychological competency examination following his arrest, and, in December 2022, the choose dominated that he was not competent to face trial. The choose ordered Patton to take part in outpatient psychological well being therapy in hopes of bringing him to trial at a later date.
As an alternative, Patton’s felony election tampering cost was dismissed Wednesday, though court docket data don’t specify the explanation.
Prosecutors couldn’t instantly be reached Friday for remark.
A competency analysis considers whether or not a prison defendant is mentally unwell or developmentally disabled and whether or not that forestalls the defendant from understanding the court docket course of.
A gag order was positioned on these concerned within the prison proceedings as a result of the case generated vital media consideration within the wake of ongoing conspiracy theories about rigged elections, fueled by former President Donald Trump’s lies in regards to the 2020 presidential election.
On June 28, 2022, Patton alarmed some election staff when he requested about safety when he got here to vote at a polling station on 720 N. Most important St. in Pueblo. After being proven the way to function the machine, it appeared he forged a vote like every other regular voter and left.
Nonetheless, an individual disinfecting the machine seen a message flashing on the display screen that mentioned, “USB machine detected. Please name a ballot employee for help,” based on Patton’s arrest affidavit. An official election seal on the underside of the machine had been altered and a USB port had been pulled out.
Patton was charged with the crime in November 2022.
Signal as much as get crime information despatched straight to your inbox every day.