Charges Against Couple Accused After Baby's Death Were Dropped Following DA's Incendiary TV Interview: Here's Why

Fremont County District Attorney’s comments led to dismissed charges against a Colorado couple accused of crimes after the death of a 10-month-old baby

Comments made by a Colorado district attorney during a 2023 television interview led a judge to dismiss charges against a couple who'd been charged in connection with the death a 10-month-old baby, according to multiple reports.

CBS News, the Canon City Daily Record and NBC News affiliate 9 News reported a judge's ruling that Fremont County District Attorney Linda Stanley violated the couples’ rights by speaking with the media about the case because her comments potentially tainted the jury pool.

William Jacobs was accused of murdering Brook Crawford’s baby and was previously charged with first-degree murder in May 2023, according to 9 News. Crawford was charged with child abuse causing injury and child abuse causing serious bodily injury.

Prosecutors alleged that Jacobs shook the child, which they claimed caused the child's death.

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However, once the DA’s comments were aired on Colorado Springs news station KRDO-TV in August 2023, a motion to drop the charges was filed.

PEOPLE reached out to the Fremont County Clerk’s Office, and the office had no comment.

In the August 2023 interview, the district attorney made inflammatory comments about Jacobs and Crawford and the alleged murder. "I'm going to be very blunt here. He has zero investment in this child. Zero. He's watching that so he can get laid. That's it," she said. "And have a place to sleep. I'm sorry to be that blunt, but honest to God, that's what's going on."

"I had just had so many buzzers going off when they said the boyfriend was watching him," Stanley also said at the time. "There was a whole lot of things indicative of a prior incident with that baby."

Stanley also claimed that the couple found the child to be “a pain in the a--.”

District Court Judge Kaitlin B. Turner wrote in an order on Wednesday, May 29, that Stanley’s actions involving the case “reflect knowing and intentional outrageous government conduct." Turner held that Stanley had infringed upon the defendant’s right to due process and a fair trial, meaning that dismissing the charges constituted “an appropriate remedy."

Stanley's office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Related: Cause of Death Revealed for Suzanne Morphew Years After She Vanished on Mother's Day Bike Ride

Per 9 News, Turner said in the court order dismissing the case that Stanley’s comments “included her vituperative, sensational and inflammatory opinions of Mr. Jacobs’ character, his credibility, his reputation and his criminal record."

A complaint was previously filed in April 2023 from the Colorado Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel against the district prosecutors, including Stanley, which claimed that the prosecutors violated ethics with pretrial publicity failure to turn over evidence in a timely manner in connection with the Suzanne Morphew case, per CBS News.

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