Denver paralegal’s small talk could derail road-rage murder case

A Denver paralegal’s weekend small talk could end a first-degree murder prosecution.

A paralegal in the Denver District Attorney’s Office told a woman that prosecutors believe a man charged with first-degree murder in a 2023 road-rage killing acted in self-defense and should not be charged with murder, the defendant’s attorneys alleged in a court filing Tuesday.

The first-degree murder case against Nicholas Moodley, 32, should be dismissed because of that conversation, they wrote.

“The prosecution continues to prosecute Mr. Moodley despite having concluded that his actions were legally justified, and he is not guilty,” the motion reads. “This violation of a prosecutor’s most fundamental ethical obligation has resulted in a denial of Mr. Moodley’s due process rights, and requires that the case be dismissed.”

Matt Jablow, a spokesman for the Denver District Attorney’s Office, declined to comment Tuesday.

Moodley is charged with first-degree murder and menacing in the November 2023 killing of Shane Warn, 45, during a road-rage encounter at Park Avenue West and Blake Street in Denver, near Coors Field.

Video of the incident shows Warn tailgated Moodley for several blocks before both vehicles stopped in the road. Moodley got out of his Tesla, holding a gun at his side, and walked to the driver’s side of Warn’s vehicle, a Mazda. The pair exchanged words while Moodley held the gun at his side, partially behind his leg.

Moodley then walked back to his car and got into the driver’s seat. Warn jumped out of his vehicle and ran up to the Tesla and kicked the door open, video shows. Moodley shot the man twice, according to an arrest affidavit. Moodley called 911 after the shooting and stayed at the scene, where he was arrested.

He is scheduled to stand trial in December and faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder.

But his attorneys argue the case should go no further after paralegal Dontae Ruiz’s Sept. 28 conversation with the woman, who is identified in court filings only by her first name, Beth. She agreed to speak with The Denver Post on the condition her last name not be used over concerns about retaliation for publicly discussing the conversation.

Ruiz could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Beth, who works as a sales associate in Adams County, met with Ruiz and his partner to discuss a potential purchase on Sept. 28. During the meeting, the trio made small talk and Ruiz mentioned he works as a paralegal in the Denver District Attorney’s Office.

“I just randomly asked him out of curiosity, ‘Have you ever worked on a case where you thought someone was innocent?’ ” Beth said in an interview. “And he said, ‘Yes.’ ”

Ruiz started to explain more but stopped and checked that Beth lived outside of Denver and so she could not be called as a juror. Then he briefly described Moodley’s case, she said.

“He said… ‘I think we got it wrong and the attorneys do, too,’ ” she told The Post.

Beth happens to be a close friend of Moodley and said she was shocked by the paralegal’s casual admission. She became emotional in the moment, then explained to the couple that she was Moodley’s friend and apologized for her emotions before moving on with the sales visit. Later, she reached out to Moodley and his wife, who alerted his attorneys, she said.

An ethical obligation

Prosecutors have an ethical obligation to pursue only charges they believe they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury, said Stan Garnett, former Boulder County district attorney. He is not involved in Moodley’s case.

“The reason for this ethical standard, imposed by the Colorado Supreme Court and laid out in (American Bar Association) standards for prosecutors, is because merely being under an indictment or criminal charges can be so damaging to a person,” he said. “As soon as a prosecutor has concluded they can’t prove a case, they should dismiss the case.”

But whether the attorneys on Moodley’s case actually believe it can’t be proven remains to be seen, Garnett added.

“A random comment by a paralegal probably doesn’t implicate that, because the paralegal’s subjective view is not governed by the ethical standards,” he said. “It obviously can be embarrassing to the prosecution that a paralegal said something like this, but it is not controlling.”

Attorney Doug Cohen, also a former prosecutor uninvolved in the case, called the situation a “sticky wicket” for Denver prosecutors, but noted that claims of outrageous government conduct are rarely successful because there is a high bar to prove it in court.

“It’s true that a DA’s office has an ethical obligation not to pursue charges against someone it believes is innocent,” he said. “That said, DA’s offices have broad discretion to make those decisions. And judges usually stay out of the way. Such decisions — especially in a first-degree murder case — are the subject of collective, heated debate in DA’s offices. They go up the chain of command. They are not based simply on the perspective of an individual prosecutor or staffer, nor should they be.”

“Can’t have it both ways”

Doug Richards, Moodley’s attorney, said prosecutors’ public statements should match what they say behind closed doors. He noted that Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said in a news release that the road-rage shooting “illustrates the tragedy that often results when people try to resolve… disputes with firearms.”