Reaction to reported plea deal for alleged Club Q shooter Anderson Aldrich: 'You're not really in a position to say no'

Jun. 16—Late Wednesday evening, The Associated Press reported that alleged Club Q shooter Anderson Aldrich would be accepting a plea deal later this month that would send Aldrich to prison for life.

Aldrich is accused of fatally shooting five people and injuring nearly two dozen more at the LGBTQ+ nightclub Club Q on North Academy Boulevard on Nov. 19, 2022.

"I have to take responsibility for what happened," Aldrich told the AP over the phone from the El Paso County jail in an interview.

AP goes on to report that the plea deal is expected to be accepted on June 26, the date of Aldrich's scheduled arraignment hearing.

George Brauchler, the former district attorney for Colorado's 18th Judicial District, spoke with The Gazette regarding the plea deal for Aldrich, stating it was incredibly rare in a case as big as the Club Q shooting.

"From the standpoint of the prosecution, if somebody comes forward and says 'I'll plead guilty to murder for every victim who was murdered and attempted murder for every victim who was attempt murdered and go away to prison forever,' you're not really in a position to say no," Brauchler explained. "I presume this plea will include all the murder counts, all the attempted-murder counts and the hate crimes. If that's the case, how does Michael (Allen, the 4th Judicial District attorney) say no to that?"

Attorney Scott Robinson, a Denver-based criminal and personal injury lawyer, spoke with The Gazette and offered the explanation that the plea deal for Aldrich carried with it a lot of positives for the District Attorney's Office and the state.

If the deal is accepted, and the case does come to an end late this month, Robinson explained that the Club Q victims and their families won't have to be revictimized during what would have been a long and traumatic trial, and that the prosecution won't have to spend a significant amount of taxpayer money prosecuting the case anymore.

"You know, life without parole in Colorado really means it," Robinson said, remarking that if a plea deal for the homicides is taken, Aldrich will never be released from prison.

Brauchler speculated a positive for federal prosecutors —who continue to investigate the Club Q shooting, according to the AP report — is the ability to get a conviction with no need to seek the death penalty, something that President Joe Biden opposes.

"I think this is an easy out for an administration that is probably uncomfortable with the death penalty. For them to go, 'well, (Aldrich) pled guilty,' is going to go away forever and ever. We never have to say (Aldrich's) name again, that's enough for us, I could see that," Brauchler said.

On the defense side, Brauchler said he highly suspects that Aldrich's attorneys were in communication with federal prosecutors, and that the plea deal could be a cog to try to avoid a death sentence penalty at the federal level.

The state of Colorado no longer allows the death penalty, but it remains a viable sentencing possibility at the federal level.

Brauchler acknowledged the possibility that Aldrich is truly remorseful for the crime, and that is why Aldrich is pleading guilty, as Aldrich claimed to AP in the interview, but that he found those claims to be dubious.

"It's just hard to imagine a guy getting to the place where he illegally arms himself, goes to an LGBTQ place and tries to murder everyone in there, and then because he's charged and has a couple months of sobriety is like 'Wow, I should have never done that,'" Brauchler said. "That's hard to imagine. I guess it could happen. But I think it probably has more to do with the fact that they fear the federal death penalty more than anything else."

Brauchler continued to speculate that he believed Aldrich's attorneys could be aware of Aldrich's contact with AP, and used that as a way to get information about the plea deal out to the public.

"It's either that, or they just have absolutely no client control," Brauchler said. "And maybe that's true, but these lawyers on this case are pretty experienced. It would be hard to imagine they were shocked that their client reached out to the AP."

Robinson, who also confirmed the possibility of the death penalty being a possible motivator for Aldrich's plea, offered an additional explanation, citing the Aldrich case as "hopeless" and "not a defensible case."

"Well, there are certain cases where a defense lawyer has to understand the realities of the situation. It is not a defensible case. He was apprehended at the scene, he shot and killed people for no reason."

While Brauchler did highlight a potential negative outcome to the plea deal, he said the positives for the prosecution far outweigh the slim chances of the plea deal turning out poorly in the future.

If Aldrich in the future is unhappy with the plea deal, or if Aldrich ends up facing a federal death penalty case in the future despite the plea deal, the defendant could request to have the case reopened and the plea withdrawn, citing ineffective legal counsel.

"That is the only alternative to sticking with the plea of guilty that exists," Brauchler said. "If you go to trial and lose, there are years of appeals. Years and years of appeals to the Colorado Supreme Court. So this (the reported plea deal) is probably the best outcome for which Michael Allen could hope for. That's what makes it so incredibly rare that a defendant would just show up and say, 'I want to own the worst thing that could happen to me from a jury.'"

Brauchler cautioned, though, that the chances of the plea deal having negative ramifications for the prosecution are exceedingly low, as long as the proper steps are taken to ensure Aldrich is competent to understand the plea deal and court proceedings.

Robinson told The Gazette that he agrees, believing there are no real downsides for the prosecution in accepting this plea deal.

The Gazette additionally reached out to Rich Fierro, the local brewery owner and Army veteran who helped tackle and disarm Aldrich that night at Club Q, said he couldn't comment about the case.

The story in which the plea deal was reported, however — along with survivors' responses to being played audio recordings of jailhouse interviews with Aldrich — he said left him feeling sickened.

"In this article he (Aldrich) showed no accountability or remorse, his comments were all self-centered excuses for his planned actions that night and to seek pity from (the) public," Fierro said. "It's a disgusting article."

Survivor Michael Anderson, now vice president of operations for the team set up by Club Q owner Matthew Haynes to handle the planned remodel and reopening, as well as fundraising for a tribute garden at the building's southwest corner, said he, too, had been told not to comment about any alleged deals between Aldrich and prosecutors.

"What I can say is I would like to see this case wrapped up as quickly as possible," Anderson said. "I'm quite aware if this case goes to a jury trial, it could be years of this, relitigating and reliving all of this. Personally, I would like to see this trial wrapped up with him life in prison without parole, and any means to get to that end I'm OK with."

Howard Black, a spokesperson for the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office, declined to comment on the validity of the report from The Associated Press.

"It would not be appropriate for me to comment on this defendant's prosecution. Our next on the record (court) hearing is scheduled for June 26 at 8:30 a.m.," Black said in a statement issued to The Gazette.

Gazette's Stephanie Earls contributed to this report.