CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- A DUI suspect shot by deputies in Castle Rock last weekend had been freed from a 64-year sentence for drug trafficking and weapons violations by a 2005 appeals court victory.

Reese Robinson Slade, 43, of Elizabeth, was facing a virtual life sentence after being convicted in 2003 in Elbert County for trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine and being a convicted felon in possession of a machine gun and a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol, according to court records.

He was also judged to be a habitual offender, which allowed the penalty for each felony conviction to be multiplied four times the normal sentence, court records stated.

But Slade appealed the conviction, arguing the trial judge had ignored his request to have his defense attorney "fired" as he went to trial in October 2002, according to court records.

The irate defendant told the judge that his defense attorney, Robert M. Grossman, had maintained that prosecutors were offering him a plea agreement for 12 years in prison, but prosecutors said the offer was no longer on the table the day the trial began, according to the appeals court ruling.

Slade said he had been working as an informant with law enforcement and prosecutors during the prior year and participated in several drug sting operations, according to court records.

He asserted that he had "laid his life on the line" for authorities in exchange for the 12-year prison sentence, only to see it withdrawn at the last minute, according to the appeals court ruling.

Slade insisted he wanted either a new defense attorney or the chance to act as his own attorney.

But the trial judge ruled that the defendant's request was "untimely" and had been made "solely for delay or some tactical advantage," according to the appeals court ruling.

A three-judge appeals panel agreed that Slade should have been granted a new attorney and threw out his conviction.

In the appeals ruling, Judge Claus J. Hume ordered the trial judge to determine whether the defendant had "substantially complied" with the plea agreement to "his detriment." The trial judge was instructed to decide which was more appropriate: providing the defendant with the original plea agreement's 12-year sentence or a new trial.

The District Attorney’s Office for the 18 Judicial District, which includes Elbert County, issued a statement on the tangled case Monday.

"Mr. Slade was given a plea offer, before his trial in 2002, of 12 years in the Department of Corrections if he cooperated with law enforcement concerning extensive knowledge he allegedly had about the drug trafficking trade in this area," read the statement issued by district attorney spokeswoman Casimir Spencer. "He had also allegedly participated in several sting operations with law enforcement."

"On the first day of trial, however, the prosecutor on the case at that time refused to let him have that offer and the case went to trial" and Slade was convicted and sentenced to 64 years in prison, the district attorney’s statement said.

The statement did not make clear why the plea offer was withdrawn.

After Slade won his appeal, a prosecutor "agreed with the Court of Appeals decision and extended an offer to Mr. Slade of four years in the Department of Corrections with credit for time served and eights years DOC suspended on the condition that he successfully complete the STEP 13 program and have no new offenses. That offer was accepted and entered on January 23, 2006," the district attorney’s statement said.

Asked for his views on the case Monday, Slade's former defense attorney Grossman said: "I'm not making any comment at all on this matter."

Slade's reprieve from life in prison did not end his trouble with the law.

Slade's wife, who has filed for divorce, obtained a restraining order against him in 2008. He was arrested for domestic violence last month in Elbert County, according to court records.

Then on Friday night, Douglas County sheriff's deputies attempted to stop Slade's car after getting a report of a suspected drunken driver in Castle Rock.

Deputies said the motorist refused to stop and kept driving until he pulled behind a commercial building on Caprice Court.

While deputies were attempting to contact the suspect, he suddenly put the car in reverse, striking and injuring a deputy behind the car, authorities said.

"The driver then drove forward towards another deputy who was at the front of the car, the deputy shot at the suspect, striking him," the sheriff's office said in a statement.

Slade was hospitalized with unspecified injuries, the sheriff's office said. The injured officer was treated and released from the hospital.

Slade was booked in connection with three counts of assault on a peace officer with a weapon, according to court records. Formal charges have not been filed.

The Castle Rock Police Department is investigating the alleged assault on the officer. The 18th Judicial District Critical Incident Team is investigating officer-involved shooting.

Slade was treated at a hospital and is now in the Douglas County jail, his wife said.

Slade's wife, Erica, said he has struggled with drug addiction and other problems.

"It's is very heart-breaking and devastating that this has happened," she said, referring to the violent clash with the deputies. "I think it could have been prevented had he got the help he needed."