In October 2019, PoliceOne columnists Dick Fairburn and Mike Wood wrote about how cops and citizens could become victims of red flag laws if due process and other fundamental liberties are violated. Read that op-ed here.
Associated Press
DENVER — Colorado authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a woman accused of lying when she filed a petition seeking to take away the guns of a university police officer who killed her son.
Susan Holmes of Fort Collins was being sought Friday on suspicion of first-degree perjury and attempt to influence a public servant, The Denver Post reported Thursday.
Larimer County deputies tried to serve the warrant but could not find Holmes, sheriff’s office spokesman Jered Kramer said.
“At this point, we are fairly certain she is attempting to avoid us,” he said.
The warrant was issued a week after Holmes appeared in court to argue under the red flag law that the state should confiscate the guns of Colorado State University police Cpl. Philip Morris for a year after he fatally shot 19-year-old Jeremy Holmes in 2017, online court records said.
Jeremy Holmes reportedly bared a bayonet and charged officers after being told several times to drop the weapon. The 8th Judicial District Attorney’s Office ruled that the officers’ use of force was justified, and they were cleared of wrongdoing.
The warrant was first reported by The Coloradoan.
Holmes said on the petition that she and Morris shared a child together, but later said it wasn’t true during an interview with The Denver Post. A judge denied Holmes’ petition because she didn’t have legal standing to file it.
The red flag law, which took effect Jan. 1, is similar to those adopted in over a dozen other states and intended to allow relatives, household members or law enforcement to seek a court order to confiscate the weapons of people they believe could harm themselves or others.
Holmes’ bond is set at $5,000. She did not respond to a Denver Post reporter’s call on Thursday and did not return a phone call from The Associated Press on Friday afternoon.