ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky told a judge Friday that the woman convicted of making a false child abuse claim against her "taunted" her just before the hearing where the woman was supposed to be sentenced.
Robin Niceta's sentencing in Arapahoe County District Court was ultimately delayed due to her attorney's health issues. She's now set for sentencing Feb. 9 following her conviction in November on charges of attempting to influence a public servant and false reporting of child abuse.
Niceta, a former Arapahoe County social worker, was arrested in 2022 after an anonymous phone tip called into the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services suggested that Jurinsky might have sexually abused her young son. Caseworkers investigated and found that Jurinsky did nothing wrong and closed the case.
Court documents show the anonymous call was traced to Niceta, who at the time was dating the now-former Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson. Niceta was accused of making the call the day after Jurinsky criticized Wilson while speaking on a podcast, calling her “trash,” according to court documents.
During Friday's court hearing, Jurinsky expressed frustration about the delayed sentencing and made it clear to the judge that she doesn't want any additional delays.
"This has absolutely become a game to Robin," Jurinksy told the judge, and she motioned toward Niceta. "She taunts me. He (a prosecutor) witnessed it himself this morning. This needs to come to an end, and I need closure."
Prosecutors later described the incident that Jurinksy mentioned and said it happened "directly" in front of him.
"Miss Niceta did in fact walk past Ms. Jurinsky and got within an inch of her face and stared at her, and her eyes were very menacing, or at least intimidating," said prosecutor Daniel Cohen. "Frankly, it was offensive to me, and I wanted the court to be aware of it."
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In March of last year, as this case made its way through the court system, attorneys for Niceta filed a motion seeking to delay her trial. A second motion sought an evaluation of whether she was incompetent because she was terminally ill.
The motions also included medical records that appeared to indicate that Niceta was being treated for a brain tumor.
Prosecutors said they could not verify the records and found that an IP address belonging to Niceta and her mother was used to create the Facebook pages of New Mexico Oncology Associates and Carey Marquez, the doctor who purportedly diagnosed the brain tumor.
In July, Niceta was indicted on 10 additional charges related to the fabrication of those medical records. Those charges are still pending, and a trial date was set for April. Her mother is also charged related to that case and is set for trial in March.
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