According to the Delta courts, assault charges filed against him in a 2007 attack on a 77-year-old Cedaredge woman were dismissed, and the trial set for December was vacated. He was previously convicted of sexually assaulting an elderly woman in 2004.
"We support the dismissal, as we believe that Mr. Page did not commit the offense," attorney Dan Shaffer said of the 2007 case. "Further, he is facing a life sentence as it is."
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Page was arrested after — the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said — DNA linked him to the alleged offenses.
Page succeeded in having the allegations split into separate cases, which were set for separate trials.
In August, a jury convicted Page of sexual assault by overcoming victim's will; attempt at same, aggravated sexual contact without consent against an at-risk adult, third degree assault on an at-risk adult and first-degree burglary-assault/menace.
The victim died of unrelated causes before Page was arrested in 2007. She'd bitten Page during the assault, and blood on her nightgown was later used to link Page to the offenses, although it was hotly contested by his attorneys during hearings and at trial.
"(Page) is looking at a lengthy prison sentence in the first case," District Attorney Myrl Serra said of the decision to drop the second case. "With that, our (DA, judicial and law enforcement) limited time and resources are best used elsewhere."
Page hasn't yet been sentenced on his convictions in the first matter. After the dismissal of his second case, the Delta courts set a hearing to determine whether there's enough evidence to designate Page as a habitual offender.
The district attorney's office says the designation applies to four counts on which Page had been convicted and wants to use the designation to increase his sentence.
Shaffer said the DA has to establish any prior convictions beyond a reasonable doubt in order for the courts to use the habitual offender guidelines to sentence Page.
The hearing was set for 9 a.m. Dec. 23.
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