AG Office tries to prevent Caudle from seeing Arkansas friends

DEL NORTE — John Caudle’s not guilty plea was almost anti-climatic after the fierce battles fought in court Wednesday afternoon.

Caudle was arrested Oct. 26, 2009, for allegedly killing his mother and step-father, Joanne and Tracy Rinebarger with a .22 caliber pistol.

At stake was whether the defendant, 15-year old Caudle, could be ordered by the prosecuting attorneys to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Defending attorneys Dan Walzl and Amanda Hopkins tried to block the evaluation. Hopkins’ quoted numerous cases to bolster her arguments against a psychological evaluation. She maintained that Caudle’s age and ‘mental development’ should preclude him from undergoing the psychological evaluation. She said that since Caudle was not pleading ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’ that there was no reason for a psychological evaluation.

Hopkins also said the evaluation would be performed without his lawyers or a caring adult present. She said there was a danger he would be taken advantage of, and would be led into making statements that would be used against him during his trial.

She depicted Caudle as a vulnerable youth who had been held in a condition bordering on solitary confinement for months.

Prosecutor Dan Edwards, on loan from the Colorado Attorney General’s Office to assist with the case, and District Attorney David Mahonee want Caudle to undergo a psychological evaluation at the state hospital. Edwards said this is necessary if “mental conditions” are used in the defense of the defendant.

Edwards claimed that Caudle would have the option of not answering questions.

“No one compels a person to answer,” Edwards said. “He chooses whether to answer or not.”

District Judge Martin Gonzales said the law was on the side of the prosecution. He asked Hopkins to submit a motion by Aug. 13 in which she could outline the type of evaluations the defense recommended.

Parameters on the psychological evaluation could be imposed by the court, according to Edwards.

Cecile Dinsmore, who knew Caudle as a young child, and her youngest daughter, Kristin Jenson, drove approximately 1,000 miles, from Mountain Home, Ark., to Del Norte, to be in court with Caudle for his plea hearing.

In a February interview, Dinsmore said she first met Caudle when he was 6 months old. Dinsmore was a volunteer with a church group dedicated to helping teenage moms become better mothers and she was assigned to mentor Caudle’s mother, Joanne.

Dinsmore said Joanne never bonded with John, and that there was very little positive interaction between the two of them.

When Caudle was about 10-months old he started to spend more and more time with the Dinsmore family. Dinsmore said her family tried to supply the warmth and love missing from his daily life.

Guardian ad litem Ruth Acheson arranged with the Rio Grande deputies for Dinsmore to visit with Caudle during court breaks.

When a break was declared the deputies would not allow Dinsmore to speak with Caudle.

The deputies told Acheson that a member of the victim’s family had objected to Caudle speaking with Dinsmore and that they had received a phone call from the “General Attorney’s Office” asking them not to allow the visit.

Acheson was speaking to District Attorney Mahonee to clear up the problem when she was loudly berated first by an investigator from the Attorney General’s Office, and then by Edwards, a Colorado State Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Homicide Assistance Team. Edwards is on loan to the 12th Judicial District to lead the prosecution of Caudle.

Acheson chided the two men for their rudeness, and told them she would ask Gonzales to allow Caudle and Dinsmore to visit.

Gonzales deferred to the deputies. He said the defendant was in the care of the deputies, and they were in charge of court security.

Although Dinsmore was not allowed to visit with Caudle during the courtroom breaks, deputies did allow her to spend some time with him after court was adjourned. Dinsmore was in tears when she left the courthouse.

Caudle will return to court for a motions hearing at 1:30 on August 19.