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Fugitive Sibling Says His Concussion Being Ignored

Prosecutors Decide To Charge Dougherty Gang In Huerfano County

POSTED: 11:02 am MDT August 15, 2011
UPDATED: 6:40 pm MDT August 15, 2011

The defense attorney for one of the three fugitive siblings arrested in Colorado last week says his client thinks he has a concussion.

The attorney told the judge that Ryan Dougherty told him he has a bump on his head and that Ryan, 21, was not getting proper medical attention from the staff in the jail.

The judge told the court-appointed defense attorney, Mike Emmons, to discuss the problem with officials at the jail.

Dougherty, his brother and his sister were taken to the Spanish Peaks Regional Health Center in Walsenburg after the accident to be checked for any medical problems before being released to the Pueblo County Jail.

Dylan Stanley Dougherty , 26, also appeared in court on Monday. Both men appeared in yellow jumpsuits.

Their sister, Lee Grace Dougherty, 29, did not appear in court, and there was no immediate explanation of where she was.

Case To Be Turned Over To Huerfano County

In Pueblo court on Monday, the filing of charges against siblings was delayed until next week after prosecutors decided Monday to charge the Dougherty gang in the county where the cross-country manhunt ended.

Assistant Pueblo District Attorney James Coursey told a Pueblo County judge that the case will be turned over to Huerfano County.

"We've spent a great deal of time discussing this, and we believe the more appropriate venue is Huerfano," Coursey said. Defense attorneys agreed. Coursey did not elaborate when asked by reporters to explain the decision.

The Doughertys are being held in Pueblo on charges of attempted first-degree murder and assault in Pueblo and Huerfano counties because officers from both were involved in the chase that led to their arrest.

The district attorney for Huerfano County, Frank Ruybalid, said the decision to pursue charges in his district was reached following a meeting Friday with state and local authorities as well as the FBI. He said his reading of the law so far shows that people should be tried where the evidence shows the offenses occurred.

Ruybalid would not discuss other details of the evidence, citing a limited gag order requested by the lawyers of two of the siblings.

He said a judge has given him until Aug. 22 to file charges against the Doughertys, given the complicated nature of the case.

It was not immediately clear whether the siblings would be moved to the Huerfano jail in Walsenburg or appear there by video conference from Pueblo, where they're being held on bonds of $1.25 million each. Ruybalid said the siblings could be held in Pueblo County because the county has more resources to provide security.

Parties involved in the case will meet to discuss charges in Huerfano County on Monday, Aug. 22.

The chase began in Pueblo County after an officer spotted them last week in a stolen Subaru. The 20-mile pursuit ended a few miles south in Huerfano County, where the Doughertys allegedly shot at pursuing officers before they ran over stop sticks placed by authorities and blew a tire on Interstate 25.

No officers were hit, though Lee Grace Dougherty was shot in the leg after she allegedly aimed a gun at an officer.

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