Man arrested in Aurora for shooting strangers found incompetent to stand trial for similar crimes in 2018

Austin Benson finds himself in a familiar situation: he is accused of indiscriminately shooting strangers.

Benson was arrested last week after Aurora police said he fired shots from his car at three people he did not know, sending one to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

It is not the first time that Benson, 34, has been declared incompetent to stand trial following a similar shooting spree in Douglas County in 2018. But the case has raised new concerns about Colorado’s problematic system for restoring defendants to sanity and how Benson was able to obtain guns despite his medical and behavioral history.

“District attorneys across the state have been raising alarms about the state’s flawed competency system for years,” 18th Judicial District Attorney John Kellner said in a statement to CPR News. “The law requires a judge to dismiss a case – it is not optional – when a defendant is found incompetent and rehabilitation is not possible in the foreseeable future. After that, there is little to no safety net for dealing with potentially dangerous mentally ill people.”

Benson faced similar allegations in 2018

According to arrest records, Benson’s troubles with the law began six years ago. He was arrested on July 2, 2018, for attempted murder. Douglas County Sheriff’s officials alleged Benson stole someone’s car in El Paso County and shot at other vehicles while driving to Douglas County.

Benson was seen with a handgun and possibly an AR-15 rifle. He fired at and hit several cars, but no one was injured. Benson was eventually subdued when a retired Alabama police officer shot him multiple times in the face and arm at a campground. Benson survived, paid bail three weeks later, and was released from jail to await trial.

According to court documents, Benson’s defense raised the issue of his competency to stand trial a year later, on July 19, 2019.

Before that investigation could be completed, Benson was arrested on December 5, 2019, on charges of assault, harassment, and violation of his bail conditions in another case. Benson was allegedly in the intensive care unit at Parker Adventist Hospital when he spat on a hospital security guard and punched a nurse. Security personnel managed to subdue Benson, but he “verbally threatened to kill them and their families,” the affidavit states.

While in police custody, Benson said he wished he had his Nerf gun with him, and when an officer asked him what he meant by that, Benson said he wished he could point it at the officers so they would shoot him.

Benson was able to post bail again and was released from jail on December 11, 2019, according to court records.

A long road to determining competence

Three months later, in March 2020, the court received a report from the Colorado Department of Human Services – Dr. Emily Stebner found Benson competent to proceed with the 2018 charges.

However, this assessment did not last. Almost six months later, the defense again requested that the court determine his sanity.

This new examination was conducted by doctors at the Denver Forensic Institute for Research, Service, and Training at the University of Denver (Denver FIRST), who in their December 2020 report found him incompetent to stand trial.

“They further opined that the defendant had a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and was suffering from seizures, and believed that the stress associated with the trial process may be contributing to the seizures. An addendum to that opinion contained the further mixed opinion that there was no substantial likelihood of recovery in the foreseeable future and that he could be recovered within the statutory time frame,” said a court document from 18th Judicial District Attorney Corrie Caler.

In a follow-up report in August 2021, Denver FIRST doctors said Benson’s condition had worsened and he remained unfit to stand trial. From October 2021 to March 2022, Benson was in “outpatient rehabilitation training” but was still unfit to stand trial, according to court records.

His attorneys filed a motion to dismiss charges against Benson in April 2022 after a CDHS doctor found Benson incompetent to stand trial. However, an addendum to the report states that a nurse reported that “the defendant demonstrated logical, linear and goal-oriented thinking. The nurse also reported that the defendant indicated that he was concerned about his legal problems and expected them to end soon.”

In this follow-up report, according to a court document, the doctors expressed concern that the defendant had underestimated his abilities during his previous interview.

In late 2022, officials at the Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Pueblo, operated by CDHS, filed a letter “informing the court that due to the defendant’s frequent seizures during sessions, it was determined that it was clinically unethical to continue outpatient rehabilitation services.”

A CDHS spokesman said they could not comment on individual cases or patients.

An independent neuropsychological expert “informed the court on August 16, 2023, that she could not complete the assessment because the defendant was too medically impaired.”

“In this case, the state Office of Behavioral Health determined the defendant was incompetent to stand trial and not fit for retrial during two separate outpatient evaluations,” Kellner said in a statement to CPR News. “They also determined the defendant did not meet the criteria for civil commitment. Nevertheless, we did not agree with the dismissal and instead asked the court to transfer the defendant to CMHHIP (Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Pueblo) for an inpatient evaluation.”

Despite the verdict on the offence and jurisdiction, the public prosecutor decided not to pursue the “Red Flag” order any further

The state of Colorado has long struggled to manage the sanity assessment and reinstatement of defendants in criminal cases. The state was sued in 2011 and reached a settlement in 2019 that requires timely reinstatement or face fines. Colorado pays the maximum fine of $12 million per year for failure to meet deadlines. This money must be used to reduce backlogs.

The court ordered the dismissal of charges in the 2018 shooting and 2019 assault cases on October 26, 2023.

When police arrested Benson in Aurora last week on attempted murder charges for shooting three people, they found several firearms on him.

District Attorney Kellner’s office said it did not obtain an extreme danger protection order, known as the “red flag” law, to take away his weapons for several reasons. It pointed to a social worker’s 2023 report that said Benson “has received medical care, including a neurologist and psychiatrist, and is adhering to prescribed medications with the support of his family… has stable housing, income and adequate support at home.”

“Given the totality of the circumstances, we believe we have not met the required standard of proof,” said an agency spokesman.

Benson is currently being held in the Arapahoe County Jail on $2 million bail. He is charged with attempted first-degree murder. His next court hearing is scheduled for Friday.