Prosecutors haven't revealed anything about why they charged the suspect with a hate crime, so details are expected to be revealed during a court hearing Wednesday.
last year, but what motivated that person to target a venue that had long been a sanctuary for the LGBTQ community in the mostly conservative city remains unknown.
Unlike the other allegations, such as murder and attempted murder, hate crime charges require prosecutors to present evidence of a motive — that Aldrich was driven by bias, either wholly or in part. That could include statements Aldrich, who uses they/them pronouns, made on social media or to other people, said Karen Steinhauser, a trial lawyer, former prosecutor and law professor at the University of Denver who isn't affiliated with the case.
Prosecutors usually win preliminary hearings since the standard of proof is lower than a trial and the evidence must be viewed in a light most favorable to them, but defense lawyers sometimes still want to go forward with a preliminary hearing. It's a chance to question witnesses, often investigators, under oath to learn more about the government’s case than may be available in the sometimes thousands of pages of reports likely already turned over to them, Steinhauser said.
Questions also remain on how Aldrich got the gun used in the shooting, but experts say how and where Aldrich obtained it does not have to be discussed in order to convince the judge to rule that there's enough evidence to take the case to trial.
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