The Longmont driver who pleaded guilty in connection with the death last year of an 8-year-old girl riding her bike has yet to spend a night in jail.
The first of Kyle Couch’s 150 days behind bars will depend on the Colorado Court of Appeals process, due to a state law that grants a stay on jail sentences to anyone who appeals in a misdemeanor plea.
Had Couch started his term at the Boulder County Jail the day of his sentencing on April 4, he would have been released earlier this month. But jail and court records show he was released after posting a $1,000 bond later the same day.
Couch pleaded guilty in March to careless driving and criminal possession of a fake ID in a plea deal that saw prosecutors drop a slew of more serious charges, including vehicular homicide and driving under the influence of marijuana, in the May 20, 2016, crash that killed Longmont’s Peyton Knowlton.
At the April sentencing hearing, Couch’s defense team argued that he be allowed to finish his college semester before going to jail, but Boulder District Chief Judge Maria Berkenkotter denied the request.
The 21-year-old was led from the courtroom in handcuffs after Berkenkotter sentenced him to about 5 months in jail followed by 150 hours of community service and two years of probation.
Couch’s defense team immediately filed a notice of appeal of the sentence, prompting his release from jail that day, Boulder County Deputy District Attorney Mark Grimaldi said.
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