Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke said it would have taken a change in state law to prevent the release of an inmate identified as dangerous by law enforcement who caught the attention of Elon Musk and Gov. Jared Polis.
In a Wednesday afternoon news conference, Rourke detailed how he could not legally continue to detain 21-year-old Debisa Ephrain, who was found incompetent to stand trial and likely could not be restored to competency. Rourke said a Colorado House bill passed in 2024 required them to dismiss the cases.
Ephrain was charged in two separate felony cases in Weld County. In one, he was arrested on charges of first-degree assault causing significant bodily injury and second-degree attempted homicide. In the other, he was charged with first-degree burglary and felony menacing, according to a pair of affidavits for his arrest.
In both cases, he was found incompetent to proceed and deemed unlikely to be restored to competency in the reasonably foreseeable future.
The discussion surrounding the bill in Weld County began Monday, when the Weld County Sheriff’s Office issued a news release warning the public of Ephrain’s release, calling him a “potential danger to the community.” The release included videos reportedly showing Ephrain throwing punches in violent brawls, though it noted the videos could not be authenticated.
Several news outlets reported on Ephrain’s release, which was eventually commented on by Musk, the chairman of the social media platform X and a former advisor to President Donald Trump. In a post on X in reference to Ephrain’s release, Musk said, “This is insane,” and tagged Polis.
Polis replied on X, calling Efrain’s release “absolutely unacceptable” and saying the Weld County District Attorney’s Office and the Weld County Attorney’s Office should have used state law to keep Efrain in custody. Polis specifically pointed to Colorado Revised Statutes 25 and 27 in the post.
Rourke on Wednesday called the governor’s post “completely inaccurate,” going into detail about the two titles in his news conference.
HB 24-1034 reads: “If the court determines, based on available evidence, that there is not a substantial probability that the defendant, with restoration services, will be restored to competency within the reasonably foreseeable future, the court: shall dismiss the criminal proceedings, the commitment or the restoration services.”
“It does not leave discretion. It doesn’t say ‘may.’ It mandates the dismissal of charges against the defendants when they have been found incompetent to proceed and not restorable. This is the law,” Rourke said. “We follow the law, as is our obligation as elected officials and as public safety leaders.”
Rourke went on to call the law a “get out of jail free card,” saying he believes situations like this will be a “very frequent occurrence” moving forward if the law is not amended.
Capt. Jason Kennedy with the Douglas County Sheriff’s office, center, sitting next to Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams, right, gives his testimony to members of the Senate’s State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee as they consider Senate Bill 3 in the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the Colorado State Capitol in Denver on Jan. 28, 2025. Reams announced Tuesday that he will run for Weld County Commissioner at-large. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)Title 25 covers disabilities, including determinations for what is considered legally disabled. Per statute 25-20-102, “ ‘disabled condition’ means the condition of being unconscious, semiconscious, incoherent, or otherwise incapacitated to communicate.”
Title 27 allows for restricting the rights of a defendant who has been found eligible for services due to an intellectual and developmental disability as defined in Title 25 or Title 27. It also allows for suspects to be committed to either a jail or mental health facility when the person is found to have a mental health disorder and is a danger to himself or the community. Efrain did not meet any of the criteria to continue to be held, Rourke said.
Ephrain’s case was dismissed on July 30, but due to a provision of the house bill, he was held for 35 days so the office could evaluate any other options that exist under state law, Rourke said.
“The 35 days that we asked for in court was to allow the county attorney … to give them 35 days to look at all the information, determine whether or not that legal disability determination met this defendant,” Rourke said. “Our county attorney’s office determined that did not fit this individual.”
According to statute 27-65-102, “ ‘Mental health disorder,’ includes one or more substantial disorders or the cognitive, volitional or emotional processes that grossly impairs judgment or capacity to recognize reality or to control behavior. An intellectual disability is insufficient to either justify or exclude a finding of a mental health disorder.”
“It’s a very narrow definition,” Rourke said. “It doesn’t apply to the entire broad scope of individuals who would be found incompetent to stand trial. They’re two very different definitions.”
Rourke spoke with Polis about an hour before the news conference and said he believes the two are on the same page moving forward. Polis’ office did not directly answer questions about the extent of his and Rourke’s agreement, instead providing a general statement.
“I support local governments in using every tool they can to protect public safety, and have made state staff available to work on options in partnership with local governments to ensure dangerous individuals are not released into the community,” Polis said. “I also support updating statues where necessary. Individuals who pose a risk to our communities or themselves should not be released back onto the streets and there are several mechanisms to prevent that and I support more.”
Sheriff Steve Reams said in the release that HB 24-1034 “has created a crisis where very dangerous individuals are being released to the street to reoffend over and over.”
Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke addresses the media surrounded by Weld Sheriff Steve Reams, Assistant District Attorney Robb Miller, Greeley Police Chief Adam Turk and Weld County Sheriff's Office Captain Matt Turner. Rourke was responding to a post on X sent by Governor Jared Polis regarding the release of 21-year-old Debisa Ephrain due to him being found incompetent and deemed unlikely to be restored to competency. (Courtesy/Weld County District Attorney's Office)This was not the first defendant the Weld County Judicial District has seen who was slated to be released under the law, but this was the first case in which Rourke’s office could not utilize any alternative restorative treatments, he said.
“We advocated against this provision of the law,” Rourke said. “We knew what this law said. We knew the impact of what this law would be. We testified at the legislature. We had one-on-ones and behind-the-scene meetings with both House and Senate members to try and negotiate a way out of this provision. But the fact of the matter is, the statute is clear.”
Democratic and Republican state lawmakers passed the law almost unanimously in May 2024, with only two Republican members of the House voting against it and a handful of other lawmakers excused from the votes. Lawmakers representing Weld County who voted “yes” include then-State Rep. Gabe Evans, now a member of the U.S. House, former State Rep. Mary Young, former State Rep. Ryan Armagost, State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer and former State Sen. Kevin Priola.
“I look forward to continuing our working partnership with the legislature, local leaders, law enforcement, District Attorneys and others to further strengthen options to protect public safety,” Polis said in his statement to the Tribune.
Rourke closed saying he hopes the law will change for all the victims and their families moving forward, though there is nothing he can do for the current victim’s family.
“I think suffice to say, the discussion was, going forward, there needs to be a change in the law,” he said. “A policy discussion about changing the law. But in the meantime, it doesn’t do us much good on this particular defense.”
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