The Slowest SovCit Ever?

Añadido: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]051 people versus Julio Sto. I choose of appearance, please break the table on behalf of the people. Morning, Mr. Sto.

[00:00:07]Morning. We're scheduled this morning for appearance on bond. I believe this is Mr. Sto's first appearance before the court. Mr. Taylor, >> your honor, I have a rule five adisement and mandatory protection order. The defendant was unwilling to sign, if I may approach.

[00:00:20]>> Yes, please.

[00:00:23]>> Thank you.

[00:00:25]>> All right, Mr. Sodto, we're going to talk about a couple of these documents that we need to address for your first appearance this morning. I'll note for the record, Mr. Stoodto does appear out of custody and prosay having posted an appearance bond on May 22nd. Uh Mr. Sodto, the first of these documents we need to address is this uh rule five adisement under rule 5C2. Did you have an opportunity to review this adisement?

[00:00:45]>> Uh I did.

[00:00:46]>> All right. And uh do you understand each of the bulleted paragraphs on this page?

[00:00:51]>> All right. Well, I'm going to go ahead and explain them to you then. So, uh, the following is an advisement of your rights. Please listen carefully as these rights will pertain to you and your case. You have the right to remain silent and you do not need to say anything to anyone about the facts of your case. Any statement that you do make can and may be used against you unless it is something that you say to your own lawyer or a statement made to the district attorney while attempting to negotiate a plea agreement. You have a right to be represented by an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney and you are considered indigent based on state guidelines, you may request that an attorney be appointed to represent you. If the public defender is appointed to represent you while you are in custody, which is obviously not the case here, then you are released from custody. You must then travel to the public defender's office and reapply if you wish to continue to have such representation. The district attorney represents the state of Colorado and does not represent you. The district attorney cannot give you legal advice.

[00:01:43]In most cases, you have the right to have a reasonable bail set. We may discuss bail today when your case is called. If you are a defendant on a victim's bill of rights case and bond has already been set by schedule or on a warrant, the bail cannot be discussed until the court can find compliance with the victim's bill of rights. If this applies to you, then your case would be set over expeditiously on the issue of bond to allow for compliance. You have the right to a speedy and public jury trial, or if the district attorney agrees, a trial to the court. You are presumed innocent. And if you plead not guilty, you have the right to require the district attorney to prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. At trial, you have the right to cross-examine witnesses, the right to testify on your own behalf, the right to subpoena witnesses to testify on your behalf, and the right to appeal any rulings or decisions in the event of a conviction. If you are charged with a petty offense, you are entitled to a jury trial if within 21 days after entry of a plea of not guilty, you make a request to the court for a jury trial in writing and tender to the court a jury fee of $25 unless the fee is waved by the judge because you are indigent. In petty offenses, you have a right to a jury of three unless a greater number not to exceed six is requested by you in the written jury demand.

[00:02:51]If you are alleged to have violated any law pursuant to title 18 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, the law requires a mandatory protection order will enter against you. This protection order will state that you will not harass, molest, intimidate, retaliate against, or tamper with any witness to or victim of the acts that you are charged with committing. And other conditions may also be ordered by the court as part of that protection order. Compliance with the mandatory protection order will be made a condition of any bond posted in your case. And if you fail to comply, your bond could be revoked or new charges could be filed against you or contempt proceedings could result or any combination of those events could occur.

[00:03:24]You may be able to resolve your case by plea agreement. But please keep in mind that any plea of guilty which you must which you may enter may be uh or rather must be a voluntary plea and not the results of any threats, coercion or undue influence on the part of anyone.

[00:03:37]Any agreements that you make with the district attorney must be in writing.

[00:03:40]After you have read these rights, you may have a conference with the district attorney to determine if you and the district attorney can reach an agreement regarding your case. This could be an opportunity for you to obtain more information about your case. You do not have to speak with the district attorney if you choose not to. And after you have been read this advisement, whether you choose to speak with the district attorney or not, your case will be called up by the court to either accept an agreement uh or set the matter for future court proceedings such as motions, trial, appearance of counsel, or another setting. And so, do you have any questions for me based on any of those advisements?

[00:04:10]>> No, I don't.

[00:04:11]>> Sir, have you ever served in the US Armed Forces or are you a veteran?

[00:04:14]>> No.

[00:04:15]>> I'm going to mark this form no.

[00:04:18]>> And I'm going to stamp this as reviewed with and acknowledged by Mr. Soto on the record today. Uh, hold on. Hold on. Do you say if I have any questions?

[00:04:27]>> Yeah.

[00:04:28]Uh so under the sixth amendment of the United States Constitution grants me the right to know the nature of the cause of the action you are bringing against me and grants me the court to the duty to tell me I don't understand the nature of the cause of this action which has been brought to me.

[00:04:53]>> So you're asking what the nature of the proceeding is.

[00:04:56]>> Yeah. We're going to get to that in just a moment when we talk about the charges that have been filed against you. In terms of your rights, do you have any other questions about those rights that I just read?

[00:05:05]>> Like I said, I don't I don't understand >> what don't you understand >> the nature of the you know the charges that you bring.

[00:05:14]>> Yeah, we're going to discuss your charges in just a moment. But in terms of the adisement I just read to you in terms of the rights we just discussed, do you have any questions about that?

[00:05:22]>> No questions on that.

[00:05:24]>> All right. All right, I'm going to go ahead and stamp this as reviewed with and acknowledged by Mr. Soto on the record today.

[00:05:31]>> All right, the next order of business is the 4count complaint and information.

[00:05:35]Sir, did you receive a copy of the 4count complaint in this case?

[00:05:39]>> Uh, has four charges on it?

[00:05:42]>> Yeah, I did.

[00:05:43]>> Okay. And uh, so you're asking about the nature of those charges. Is that the question?

[00:05:48]>> Yes.

[00:05:50]>> Understood. So, you're charged with uh, four counts in this case. The top counts charged against you are uh or the top count charged against you is a class 4 felony assault in the second degree.

[00:06:01]That particular offense carries a maximum penalty of between uh 2 and 8 years in the department of corrections a maximum fine of $500,000 and three years of mandatory parole. And that count alleges that on or about November 16th of 2025, you Mr. Sto with intent to cause bodily injury to another person unlawfully and feloniously caused bodily injury to Salvador Rodriguez Gonzalez by means of a deadly weapon, namely a firearm. And so that is count one, and uh I misspoke. Count one is punishable by 5 to 16 years in the Department of Corrections with that same fine and a mandatory period of parole. Count two is conspiracy to commit assault in the second degree. That is a class 5 felony.

[00:06:40]and it alleges that on or about November 16th of 2025, you Mr. Sto with the intent to promote or facilitate the commission of the crime of assault in the second degree, unlawfully and feloniously agreed with transito that one or more of you would engage in conduct which constituted that crime or an attempt to commit that crime or agreed to aid the other person or persons in the planning or commission or attempted commission of that crime and an overt act in pursuance of the conspiracy was committed by one or more of you. So that's count two. Count three is >> transito. You say >> felony menacing. That's a class 5 felony. It alleges that on that same date, November 16th, 2025, you, Mr. Sto, by any threat or physical action unlawfully, feloniously, and knowingly placed or attempted to place Salvador Rodriguez Gonzalez in fear of imminent serious bodily injury by use of a firearm. Finally, count four is conspiracy to commit menacing. That's a class 6 felony, and it alleges that on about November 16th, 2025, you, Mr. Sto with the intent to promote or facilitate the commission of the crime of menacing, unlawfully and feloniously agreed with transito that one or more of you would engage in conduct which constituted that crime or an attempt to commit that crime or you agreed to aid the other person or persons in the planning or commission or attempted commission of that crime and an overt act in pursuance of the conspiracy was committed by one or more of you. So those are the four counts charged against you. Do you have any additional questions with respect to the nature of those counts? Um, is this going to be a civil civil or a criminal action?

[00:08:21]>> This is a criminal case.

[00:08:24]>> Criminal.

[00:08:24]>> It's a criminal case, dummy.

[00:08:29]How How do you get that question out of this? I understand you're doing stupid softset stuff, but seriously, you're in a criminal courtroom. You're charged with a crime.

[00:08:42]>> Well, there's two criminal jurisdictions in this constitution.

[00:08:46]There's three jurisdictions. If you the judge, if if it's a civil, you must immediately dismiss this case.

[00:08:55]>> We're not going to dismiss the case today, sir. Do you have any other questions?

[00:09:00]Uh When you can't even read your own stupid script.

[00:09:24]So, >> so Jet, you know, I move forward to dismissal for reason is because >> you are in the wrong court. I'm in the wrong court. They can't bring the same case against me by the same judge.

[00:09:39]>> All right. Uh if you believe there's some kind of defect with respect to jurisdiction, you're welcome to file a pleading. Uh I don't perceive any defect this morning. You're charged with a crime that occurred or alleged is alleged to have occurred in Arapjo County. This is a criminal court in Arapo County and so the court finds adequate jurisdiction, but if you believe there's a jurisdictional defect, you're welcome to file a pleading. Do you have any additional questions about those the nature of those four counts that were charged against you?

[00:10:01]>> Okay, for the record, let me let the court show that the action and this criminal action >> the g the court to criminal restriction to dismiss this case.

[00:10:16]To the extent you're moving to dismiss the case, that motion is denied. Do you have any questions about the four counts that I just described to you?

[00:10:26]>> At this point, no.

[00:10:28]>> Okay. The next document we're going to talk about is this mandatory protection order. This will enter in your case this morning. I'm holding up the order now.

[00:10:35]This mandatory protection order uh will contain some things that you'll need to require with as uh or comply with as a condition of your bond. Uh do the people have any record or VRA record with respect to the protection order? We do not honor her. Thank you.

[00:10:46]>> All right. And so, Mr. Sto, this order will name you as the restrained person.

[00:10:50]It will name Salvador Rodriguez Gonzalez as the protected person. The order does not involve a crime of domestic violence, but it does involve a victim's rights act offense. And the order will contain the following terms. First, that you shall not harass, molest, intimidate, retaliate against, or tamper with any witness to or victim of the acts that you are accused of committing.

[00:11:09]Second, you will vacate the home of the victims and witnesses and stay away from any location they are likely to be found. And third, you will not contact or have direct or indirect communication with the victims or witnesses. Beyond that, you will not possess, purchase, or control a firearm, other weapon, or ammunition. And finally, you will be restrained from Scooters Sports Bar and Grill at 13698 East Alama Avenue in Aurora, Colorado. Do you understand each of the terms of this order?

[00:11:35]>> No, I don't.

[00:11:36]>> What don't you not scooters?

[00:11:41]Like I said, I don't understand.

[00:11:49]>> I'm not asking you about anything on those papers, sir. I'm asking you about what you don't understand about the terms of this protection order. I just read to you.

[00:11:55]>> I don't understand the nature of the, you know, the charges that you're bringing against me.

[00:11:58]>> I I just asked you a moment ago if you had any additional questions about the charges. We've now moved on to the protection order.

[00:12:04]>> Do you have any questions about the terms of the protection? Have you seen no couple under it's going to be under common law or?

[00:12:12]>> No, this is statutory law that uh contains crimes that you are accused of committing. So, this is a criminal case.

[00:12:18]It's based on a violation of statute.

[00:12:20]And those four counts that I just read to you are the counts that have been charged against with respect to the protection order and the terms that I just read to you. Do you have any questions about those terms that you're required to comply with?

[00:12:32]>> Is this right here? under common law as you have >> I just answered that question sir this is under arises under statuto law >> the injured party under the common law where is the default where there's an injured party so there's no injured party >> yes there is the the injured party is the individual who I read to you Salvador Rodriguez Gonzalez that is the alleged injured party >> there I don't see no injured party there so there's no evidence at all >> Mr. Innesota, if you would like to, >> there actually is an injured party.

[00:13:03]Also, it's not required. The the the Colorado criminal code uh prescribes certain acts and you can and it's alleged that you committed those. That's it. File a pleading with respect to whatever you've got on your papers in front of you. You're welcome to do so.

[00:13:18]I'm not going to hear any more argument as to that this morning. Do you have any questions about the mandatory protection order?

[00:13:24]>> No, I need to read it again.

[00:13:27]>> I'm not going to read it again. Do you have any questions about the order?

[00:13:30]>> No.

[00:13:30]>> You're going to be required to comply with this order. I'm stamping this as reviewed with, acknowledged, and acknowledged by you on the record today.

[00:13:36]If you violate this order, you will be held in contempt of court, or you may be charged with a new crime, which could be a misdemeanor or a felony.

[00:13:44]All right, Mr. Sono, do you have a plan for an attorney in this case? Do you intend to apply for a public defender or hire private counsel?

[00:13:51]>> No, I'm going to represent myself.

[00:13:52]>> You're going to represent yourself.

[00:13:55]Oh, here we go. Oh, here we go. I hope I get all I hope I get whatever hearings he shows up at because it's going to be spectacular.

[00:14:15]>> All right. Well, I'm going to provide you with the Arguo adisement, which is the advisement that must be provided to an individual when they have indicated that they uh wish to represent themselves in a case such as this.

[00:14:25]So sir, you have a right to have a lawyer, but you must prove to the court that you're working hard to find a lawyer. In this case, you're saying that you don't want one. And you can work hard to uh show the court that you are trying to find a lawyer by applying to the Arapo County Public Defenders Office. If you qualify based on your income level, you've indicated that you do not wish to do that. The other option is by hiring a private lawyer to represent you. You have indicated that you don't wish to do that either. And so ultimately, the court will treat that as giving up your right to a lawyer. this morning. You've indicated that you wish to proceed pro proceed proay and represent yourself. Uh the highest charged against you is a uh class 4 felony seconddegree assault with a deadly weapon. I'm just going to fill out this form. I'll be back with you in just a moment.

[00:15:07]All right. As I mentioned previously, assault in a second degree with a deadly weapon is the top cow charged against you. That's a class 4 felony. It carries a maximum sentence of 5 to 16 years in the Department of Corrections and a maximum fine of $500,000.

[00:15:19]And so I have a couple of questions for you. Uh, what was the last year of school or education you completed?

[00:15:25]>> No comment on that.

[00:15:28]>> What was the last year of school you completed, sir?

[00:15:36]>> Do you have any legal training?

[00:15:38]>> Legal what?

[00:15:39]>> Legal training?

[00:15:41]>> Don't know that question.

[00:15:43]>> That's a no.

[00:15:45]>> I don't know that question.

[00:15:46]>> Okay, I'll take that as a no. Do you understand that the criminal law is a complicated area and that having a lawyer trained in this field could be of great help in preparing and representing you in your defense?

[00:15:58]>> No.

[00:16:00]>> Can you repeat it?

[00:16:02]>> Do you understand that the criminal law is a complicated area and that having a lawyer trained in this field could be of great help in preparing and representing you in your defense?

[00:16:10]>> Yeah, I'm going to mark the form. No.

[00:16:16]>> Finally, sir, you will go on. Yes, you do.

[00:16:19]>> The next step of this case without a lawyer, you will uh take a serious risk that you will not present your case well, including risking your right to cross-examine witnesses and address those witnesses against you, risking your right to have someone testify for you, even if they do not want to, by way of a subpoena, and risking your right to remain silent since anything you say can be used against you. And so, ultimately, with respect to to your decision to represent yourself this morning, are you under the influence of any drug, alcohol, or medication that's affecting your decision?

[00:16:44]>> No.

[00:16:45]>> All right. Uh, Mr. Mr. Taylor, what I'm going to do is ask you to approach and uh Mr. Sodto, I'm going to have you sign this document that you have decided to proceed proay approach.

[00:16:57]>> Yes, please.

[00:16:59]>> Thank you.

[00:17:02]>> All right. And apart from uh setting this matter for preliminary hearing, are there any other issues from the people this morning?

[00:17:07]>> No, your honor. Thank you.

[00:17:08]>> All right. Let's go ahead and set for preliminary hearing uh from the people, are there any dates you'd like to propose? Can the defendant accept the 25th of June?

[00:17:17]All right. June 25th, 1:30 p.m. for preliminary hearing.

[00:17:23]Mr. Sto, we will print you off a setting slip that'll have that next hearing date on it. June 25th at 1:30 p.m. And we will see you back here then. Your bond will be continued through the preliminary hearing days. Have a good day, sir. As well, Mr. Madre's case.

[00:17:37]>> Holy wow, that's me.

[00:17:46]Ah, that was fun. It was just so painful. Most most of it was the judge talking this time. He's He's obviously got a script. He doesn't understand a word he's saying because if he did, he wouldn't say it.

[00:18:00]But I'm excited. I'm excited that he's uh representing himself. I'm hoping that I get future court appearances where he gets more of an opportunity to display his sovereign citizen uh theories.