A judge ruled Friday that a Colorado Springs anti-tax activist accused of killing one man, and trying to kill a judge and a lawyer does not qualify for a publicly funded defense attorney. Chief Arapahoe District Judge William Sylvester found that Bruce J. Nozolino is not eligible to be represented by the Colorado Public Defender’s Office because he is not indigent. Sylvester made his ruling after prosecutors submitted evidence showing that Nozolino has assets totaling $221,556. Deputy Public Defender Rose Roy had asked the judge to continue to let her office represent Nozolino. She conceded that his current monthly income is $104 above what the guidelines allow. But given the seriousness and complexity of the case, his assets will be exhausted several months after a competent private attorney takes over the case, she said. Roy also said that changing attorneys now will further delay the case as a new defense lawyer will have to plow through more than 22,000 pages of evidence, 3,604 photographs, 83 audiotapes and nine videotapes. Earlier in the trial, Sylvester had suggested that he might require Nozolino to reimburse the Public Defender’s Office for representing him. But on Friday, he concluded that guidelines set by the Chief Justice of Colorado require Nozolino to find a private lawyer. The Public Defender’s Office, which normally represents defendants who cannot afford an attorney, has represented Nozolino since July when an El Paso County grand jury returned a 31-count indictment charging the former software and system engineer with several counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder. He is accused of killing a man whom prosecutors said had an affair with Nozolino’s ex-wife. He also is accused of shooting his ex-wife’s divorce lawyer in the eye and trying to kill the judge who presided over the divorce. At Nozolino’s last hearing on Feb. 11, Sylvester set Nozolino’s bond at $10 million, the highest in recent memory in the 4th Judicial District. Sylvester is presiding over the case because Nozolino is accused of the attempted murder of 4th Judicial District Judge Gilbert A. Martinez. For more court coverage, visit “The Sidebar” blog at gazettedev.gazette.com

Photo by BOB KANE