Mark Dunn, the 46-year-old Cortez man accused of aggressively firing handguns inside two residences, as well as a domestic violence misdemeanor charge, is likely headed for trial.
During a motions hearing on Tuesday, District Judge Douglas Walker dismissed the 22nd District Attorney’s office’s latest plea agreement, saying the jail sentence was too lenient and did not contain an explicit requirement for domestic violence classes.
Under the deal, Dunn would have spent up to six years in jail.
“I am of the belief that, given the allegations in this case, the plea agreement tendered to the court should be rejected, and I will do so,” Walker said. “It doesn’t strike a good balance to me.”
Dunn was offered a slightly different plea deal in November by former District Attorney Russell Wasley’s office, but it expired without Dunn entering a plea either way. When Will Furse’s administration took over in January, Deputy District Attorney Lynda Carter made a second offer.
Unless the DA’s office and Dunn’s defense lawyers — David Greenberg and Ingrid Alt — reach a settlement, Dunn will go to trial on June 10. The case was bifurcated into two separate trials: one involving Dunn’s brother, Todd Dunn, and the other involving his wife, Teresa Carlson-Dunn. Which will happen first is unknown at this time.
Dunn’s legal troubles stem from a sequence of events occurring the night of Sept. 30, 2012.
According to a Cortez Police Department report, while at the couple’s home, Dunn became angry with his wife for questioning whether he should be driving after consuming alcohol. Dunn allegedly pulled a gun from his waistband and fired a shot slightly above and left of Carlson-Dunn’s head. After she fled the premises in her car, Dunn drove to his brother’s house, where he fought Todd Dunn for control of a different gun. During the fisticuffs, Dunn reportedly bit his brother on the chin.
After wresting control of the firearm, Dunn allegedly fired it three or four times. One bullet pierced a bedroom wall and barely missed a sleeping child, the son of Todd Dunn’s friend, who was also present.
Officers arrested Mark Dunn later that night for aggravated robbery, criminal mischief, two counts of felony menacing, being a felon in possession of a firearm, third-degree assault, theft, prohibited use of a firearm, two counts of reckless endangerment and domestic violence.
The parties will reconvene on May 23, when Walker will decide whether prior misconduct by Dunn is admissible evidence during trial. So-called “prior bad acts” can range from unreported physical altercations to a criminal conviction.
Greenberg and Alt argued that Dunn is not a malicious man, citing 15 letters of support from people describing him as a “productive member of this community” who is a business owner and a volunteer. His history of violence, they said, is closely tied to alcohol.
“When he drinks alcohol, things can go awry,” Alt said.
Alt questioned the credibility of the Sept. 30 eyewitnesses. Both Todd Dunn and his friend were “highly intoxicated” when interviewed by police that night, she said, with “considerable inconsistencies” in their accounts.
“Frankly I’m not quite sure what (Carlson-Dunn) will say, depending on the day she comes to court,” Alt added, stating her belief that these “proof problems” will make it difficult for the DA’s office to obtain a conviction.
The Sept. 30 events were not Dunn’s first brush with the law in 2012.
He also was accused of stabbing a fellow patron outside Blondie’s Pub and Grub (now Blondie’s Trophy Room) on Aug. 16, but no charges were filed. Witnesses told investigators that Dunn stabbed Josh Pankoff in self-defense, as the two men prepared to fight outside the bar.
lukeg@cortezjournal.com