Welcome to Court Crawl, Colorado Politics’ roundup of news from the third branch of government.

The Trump administration’s flurry of executive orders has hit a longtime diversity program operated by a Colorado judge, and a state DNA scientist accused of misconduct was in the news again.

Diversity Internship Program

•  For 12 years, now-retired U.S. Magistrate Judge Kristen L. Mix has operated an internship program to place University of Denver and University of Colorado law students of diverse backgrounds with public sector and nonprofit employers as interns. However, after the Trump administration issued a pair of executive orders last week calling diversity initiatives “illegal and immoral,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Colorado indicated it would not participate in Mix’s program this year.

•  “I understand the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s need to follow executive orders, but cannot disagree more strongly with both the letter and the spirit of these new pronouncements,” said Mix, who served on Colorado’s federal trial court from 2007 until her 2023 retirement. “Promoting diversity in the public sector is not illegal; it is necessary and just.”

Supreme Court news

•  The Colorado Supreme Court joined its counterparts around the country and ruled an animal rights group couldn’t seek the release of five captive African elephants using the centuries-old tool of habeas corpus.

•  Based on the wording of Colorado’s identity theft law, the justices decided a man couldn’t stand convicted of using an organization’s personal identifying information without authorization. Two members of the court, however, requested that lawmakers think again about the scope of the law.

Missy Woods

•  Previously, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation learned DNA scientist Yvonne “Missy” Woods had committed misconduct that potentially affected the integrity of a large swath of criminal cases. Last week, the district attorney for Jefferson County charged Woods with 102 felony counts, with a judge observing her case “gets to the heart of whether the judicial system can be trusted.”

•  Separately, the Supreme Court stepped in to evaluate whether a Douglas County judge had the authority to hear a public defender’s request for data related to Woods’ work across all cases. The CBI insists that only judges in Jeffco, where the bureau is located, can adjudicate such records requests.

Heard on appeal

•  Even though there was some evidence a murder defendant was acting in self-defense, a Weld County judge didn’t give jurors an instruction to consider self-defense. The Court of Appeals ordered a new trial as a result.

•  The Court of Appeals clarified a person can only go to court after the judiciary has denied that person their right to inspect records, not simply when there is a delay in responding to the records request.

• Even if police arrest a person under an ordinance later deemed unconstitutional, the officers aren’t liable if they had probable cause in the first place, the Court of Appeals ruled.

•  One Court of Appeals judge wondered whether lawmakers intended to allow insurance companies to seek crime victim restitution in misdemeanor traffic cases.

•  The Court of Appeals interpreted an ambiguous phrase in Colorado’s criminal records sealing law in a way that prevents a defendant from sealing his 20-year-old securities fraud convictions.

•  Although Colorado’s rules of professional conduct generally prohibit lawyers from trying cases where they are also a necessary witness, the Court of Appeals clarified the limitation extends to more than just jury trials.

In federal news

•  One member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit was fairly incredulous that a Loveland police officer immediately shot a puppy in the head who was running toward him.

•  A federal judge is considering whether to grant Uber’s last-minute request to partially block a state law that would provide more transparency to riders and drivers about how much money a driver earns for a trip.

•  Denver has appealed a nearly $14 million jury award stemming from the police response to protests in the summer of 2020.