The importance of transparency: Covering the defendants in the Christian Glass case, and why they hid from our cameras

CBS Colorado has kept up with the cases surrounding the death of 22-year-old Christian Glass since he was killed in 2022. As Your Reporter in the Colorado mountains, I, Spencer Wilson, want to keep attention on this global story. What follows is my firsthand experience at the latest court date for two of the defendants. 

As it stands, one former officer, Kyle Gould, has finished his case -- pleading guilty to the charge of "duty to report use of force" and "duty to intervene."

There are seven other officers (some former officers now) still facing charges, ranging from a single count of failure to intervene to Andrew Buen's second-degree murder charge among other charges.

During all of this, CBS Colorado has tried to cover the case as it would any criminal case, including shooting video of the defendants as they come in and out of court. This video is used to tell the story, take viewers to the place where it is happening, and shows the people involved as they go through our justice system. While judges can elect to not allow cameras in the courtroom (as this court has done with the Glass case), public property is a spot where our cameras, like anyone's, are allowed to film.

That is why when defendants Randy Williams and Timothy Collins tried to avoid our CBS Colorado cameras by leaving out the back door, I followed them so I could capture the video of them walking out to use in our story. Williams has been charged with duty to intervene and 3rd-degree assault while serving as the Georgetown Marshall, and Collins is charged with failure to intervene while he was an officer on the Georgetown Police Department.

Why does showing these defendants in our video matter? It matters because of what this case, these charges, and the actions of these defendants mean for all of Colorado.

Previously, the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office had allowed former employees to use its office as a means of avoiding media cameras and leave out the back door. This is not common practice for members of the public. Now that a new sheriff leads the office, emphasizing transparency, those defendants are not permitted to use the back door anymore. I was standing close enough to hear a Clear Creek County security guard tell one of the defendants' attorneys this on Tuesday afternoon when the attorney asked for this special treatment. 

That led to Collins and Williams sitting inside the county offices and saying "we will just wait until that CBS guy gets bored." I, again, was standing close enough to hear this. 

Eventually, Collins tried to walk out a side door, I jogged in front of him to get the video. Collins turned around to walk back into the building. That moment is shown in our story. Collins and Williams then sat in an office for around a half hour, before deciding to go into the basement of the county offices.

I followed them down there. Williams then tried to get into a secured Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office door, telling me "This is a secure area" with Collins next to him.

However, neither of them was granted access to this secure area themselves, as no one picked up the phone. 

When Williams went to get extradition papers back in the courthouse, Collins followed him, and I followed them both. Williams and Collins then went into the courtroom (again, I followed,) and then a side room where Williams claimed he needed to have a private conversation with his attorney, who was not present. I followed them there too. 

An employee with the Clear Creek County Courthouse came to check on what was happening and returned with papers outlining a decorum order stating no video recording was allowed in the courthouse, but since I was not recording anything, just waiting for Williams and Collins to leave to film them, nothing happened. 

After speaking with the judge again, the courthouse employee informed all three of us we would need to leave the courthouse.

After Williams asked for a word with me, Collins left the room but ended up walking right by our CBS Colorado cameras anyway, waiting just outside.

Williams, after heading back to the county offices one more time, eventually walked out the front door, right in front of me, with my phone ready to record. 

All of this matters because of what this case represents for Colorado, a push for transparency both within law enforcement and the case itself. 

Colorado's duty to report use of force-duty to intervene law (or "Enhance Law Enforcement Integrity") is fairly new, proposed as a bill back in 2020, and officially taking hold the same year. Since then, the death of Christian Glass has led to one of the largest numbers of law enforcement officers charged in a case for failure to intervene. This means that Williams and Collins (as well as Brittany Morrow, Ryan Bennie, Christa Lloyd, Mary J. Harris, and Kyle Gould) are subjected to the new law, and how it applies to policing. 

Aside from Gould who has pleaded guilty, none of these current defendants have a verdict yet, and are presumed innocent until proven guilty. But the charges themselves are newsworthy, due to the intended ripple effect that the consequences of the alleged inaction can have for all law enforcement agencies across the state. In the interest of transparency and accountability, I followed these defendants.

Accountability is something the Glass' attorney referenced too, as both Collins and Williams cases were delayed. 

"It was predictable," Qusair Mohamedbhai said. "They definitely want to go after [former] Officer Buen's trial, there is some wisdom to that, but all they are doing is delaying the inevitable."

He continued. "They will have to face a jury here and eventually will be held accountable for not protecting Christian that night." 

Simon Glass was in court as well, wearing pink as always, in honor of his late son. While he had nothing nice to say about the defendants, whom he said he could not even look at, he did offer encouraging words to the new sheriff in Clear Creek County, whom he met with recently. 

"I think he has a bright future; I hope he can turn it around," Glass said. "I think he has the right attitude, it is a big job, but I think he can do it."