What was supposed to be a straightforward sentencing hearing was scrapped last week after the defendant objected to the plea deal he had previously accepted. The case against Jose N. Gonzalez Ayala, 64, is now back on track for a summer trial.

Gonzalez is facing a count of attempted second-degree murder and other felony charges for allegedly trying to run a Ralston couple over with his truck last year. The Ralston man suffered an apparent broken arm and other injuries while his wife had to flee during the May 2024 altercation, court records say.

The incident stemmed from an argument over money. Charging documents say Gonzalez confronted the man about a debt on the afternoon of May 30, and it escalated into a physical fight. After the other man punched Gonzalez and cut his head open, Gonzalez reportedly became angry, getting into his Volkswagen sedan and driving into the man’s garage.

He collided with a trailer, the wall of the building, a UTV and then hit the man — reportedly sending him flying backward and the man’s wife running for cover.

In the aftermath of the incident, a Park County Sheriff’s deputy said he overheard Gonzalez say, “Yeah, I tried running him over. I wanted to kill that f—er.”

Gonzalez signed a deal with prosecutors in March, agreeing to plead guilty to felony counts of aggravated assault and property destruction in exchange for the murder charge being dismissed. It also called for the defendant — who’s been jailed since the incident — to be released to five years of supervised probation.

Gonzalez confirmed all of those terms at an April 16 hearing, but became frustrated when District Court Judge Bill Simpson noted the deal also called for him to pay $2,849.55 in restitution for damage he caused to a UTV parked in the victim’s garage.

“It’s OK, but they’re lying,” Gonzalez said through a Spanish language translator. “They’re just trying to get more money out of me than what they’ve already gotten. I don’t think it’s fair. It’s not correct.”

He questioned why the victims in the case hadn’t also been charged with crimes, asserting that they’d cheated him in a vehicle trade by using a false check.

While Gonzalez’s altercation was with the Ralston resident, that man and his wife are not slated to receive any restitution under the deal, because the Park County Attorney’s Office has been unable to reach him. The disputed restitution is actually owed to a different Powell resident, who owns the damaged UTV.

Gonzalez said in court last week that he didn’t damage any side-by-sides and that he’d never seen one at the Ralston couple’s residence. 

After Gonzalez made the remarks, his court-appointed defense attorney, Tim Blatt, suggested they could proceed with sentencing and sort out the restitution later. However, Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Laura Newton said she was concerned with Gonzalez’s assertion that there was no side-by-side at the home. She noted that, according to the charging documents, the damage was documented by a deputy and Gonzalez admitted to hitting the UTV.

Simpson agreed the conflicting accounts were “problematic,” since the side-by-side is tied to the property destruction charge.

“I would like to get it over with as well,” the judge said, “but I’m not going to do so without these issues being addressed and confirmed.”

Simpson also said there was “obviously” a language barrier in the case. Blatt said he’d had no trouble speaking with Gonzalez in English, but the judge directed the attorney to have an interpreter for future conversations.

In another complication, Gonzalez told the court that he hadn’t realized what he was doing when he waived his right to a speedy trial.

“I thought that it meant that I would not be in jail for very long at all,” he said, according to the interpreter, adding, “I didn’t understand that that [waiver] meant more jail time.”

Given the defendant’s comments, Simpson questioned whether the waiver was valid and said a trial should be set as soon as possible. He scheduled one for June 9-11, while setting a May 28 deadline for a plea deal.

In the meantime, Gonzalez remains in custody, with bail set at $100,000 cash or surety.