Driver wants confession suppressed
Man: Evidence obtained illegally; authorities fight the claim

Scott Condon
The Aspen Times
Aspen, CO Colorado

BASALT — A man accused of severely injuring a Basalt couple in a car accident in May is trying to get his confession to police and other evidence suppressed.

Oscar Canas Portillo faces two counts of vehicular assault causing serious bodily injury and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs for the May 8 accident.

Police accuse him of borrowing a friend’s SUV at a downtown Basalt bar, crossing the center line on Two Rivers Road 1 mile west of Basalt and plowing into the SUV of Jeff Reese and Susan Grove. The Basalt couple was returning from a Colorado Rockies baseball game in Denver when they were hit at about 10:30 p.m. Both suffered head injuries and a variety of broken bones.

Basalt police investigators said Portillo admitted while being treated for a broken leg and other injuries at Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs that he was the driver of the vehicle that caused the accident.

Portillo contends now that he was in no condition while he was in the hospital to voluntarily waive his right to an attorney. His attorney, Dana Christiansen of the Dillon Regional Public Defenders Office, filed a recent motion to prevent use of the confession and other evidence at trial because it was allegedly obtained illegally.

The motion said that Spanish is Portillo’s native language and that it is unclear if Spanish or English was spoken when he was questioned in the hospital by police, or if an interpreter was present. He was also taking various painkillers and other medications administered by hospital staff after surgery to repair a broken leg.

“As such Mr. Portillo alleges that any statements made were involuntary, were taken in violation of his right to assistance of counsel and/or right to remain silent,â€