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

The state Supreme Court has broken its silence on a proposal to combat racial discrimination in jury selection, plus a defamation lawsuit is currently being tried in federal court over accusations of election rigging in 2020.

Racial bias rule

•  Readers here will know that the U.S. Supreme Court recognized purposeful racial discrimination in jury selection as unconstitutional almost 40 years ago. The Colorado Supreme Court, in turn, received a proposal from its criminal rules committee 2.5 years ago that would crack down on prosecutors’ dismissal of jurors of color for reasons that, while not explicitly racial, are nonetheless correlated with race.

•  In those 2.5 years, the Supreme Court sent quite a few signals that it wasn’t crazy about the proposed rule, a version of which the Washington Supreme Court adopted nearly a decade ago. It turns out, those signals were correct. At the end of May, the Supreme Court revealed a counterproposal, which would ask judges to consider certain race-correlated reasons for removing jurors of color, but wouldn’t categorically put them off-limits.

•  “Having had discussions now among the seven of us that no doubt mirror some of yours we understand just how challenging this must have been for your committee,” Justice Carlos A. Samour Jr. wrote to the criminal rules committee, asking them to provide input by the end of this week.

•  The Supreme Court “is now adopting a significantly altered and weakened version of the proposal. The Court says that because Batson v. Kentucky, a United States Supreme Court decision that addressed purposeful discrimination in jury selection, is controlling law, it is ‘restricted’ in what it can do. Batson does not prevent states from creating better jury selection practices and addressing implicit bias. In fact, the court’s view that it is ‘restricted’ in enacting reform that goes beyond Batson is inconsistent with the several other states that have already changed their jury selection processes to address implicit bias.” —Abraham Hutt, on behalf of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar

•  A spokesperson for the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council, whose members opposed the original draft rule, said the group would refrain from offering comments on the Supreme Court’s counterproposal because several prosecutors sit on the rules committee and will need to respond to the court first.

In other Supreme Court news

•  By 6-1, the Supreme Court ruled that only the government may pursue child neglect cases, and parents or children are not allowed to continue litigating after the government withdraws its allegations.

•  The Supreme Court will decide whether the state’s Court of Appeals used the correct standard when granting a defendant a new trial because of his police interrogation, and address whether the prosecution’s mid-case appeal pushed a defendant’s trial date beyond the speedy trial deadline.

•  The justices took comments on a set of proposed rules specific to family law cases, with several attorneys expressing concerns about a new framework for “informal” trials.

Heard on appeal

•  After a Weld County juror made it clear that he’d be biased, the Court of Appeals found a new trial was warranted because the judge declined to dismiss the man.

•  An El Paso County judge should have granted the prosecution’s request to issue an arrest warrant after the victim didn’t appear for trial, rather than dismissing the charges, the Court of Appeals ruled.

•  An inconsistent set of self-defense instructions prompted the Court of Appeals to order a new trial in a Denver murder case.

•  A former Lochbuie police officer hadn’t stated a viable claim that his employer violated his due process rights by reporting its finding of misconduct to the peace officer certification agency.

Defamation trial

•  Eric Coomer, a former executive with Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems, filed a series of defamation lawsuits against conservative figures who broadcast an uncorroborated story that he allegedly admitted to fixing the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump. Last week, the first such case went to trial against MyPillow CEO and Trump supporter Mike Lindell. The trial continues this week, but here are some of the developments:

Colorado podcaster who originated 2020 election-rigging claim grilled about details, discrepancies

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell accused of violating court order against live-posting

Former Dominion employee testifies against MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell

Potential jurors asked about political views, owning My Pillow products as defamation trial begins

In other federal news

•  After several temporary extensions, a federal judge agreed Denver Water could finish constructing its dam in Boulder County, even though the underlying permit is still invalid.

•  Because the conclusion was dictated by the federal appeals court’s analysis, a judge upheld Colorado’s 2023 law increasing the firearms purchasing age.

Vacancies and appointments

•  The governor has appointed Magistrate Kelly J. McPherson to a newly created judgeship in the Fourth Judicial District (El Paso and Teller counties), as well as Magistrate Sherri R. Gryboski to fill a seat on the same court that’s being vacated by Judge David A. Gilbert.

•  The governor also selected Magistrate Sara S. Price to fill a newly created seat on the 17th Judicial District Court (Adams and Broomfield counties).

•  There are three finalists for a newly created judgeship in the 23rd Judicial District (Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties): Arapahoe County Magistrate Beth Ann Elliott-Dumler, Stacy Kourlis Guillon and Douglas County Magistrate Donna M. Stewart.

•  There are also three finalists for another newly created judgeship on the Arapahoe County District Court: Magistrate James Xavier Quinn, Jefferson County Magistrate Bryce David Allen and Trenton Wayne Ghoram.

•  As a reminder, the new trial court seats are a product of legislation passed this year to establish 15 new judgeships over two years.

Miscellaneous proceedings

•  Former Chief Justice Michael L. Bender and former District Court Judge John P. Leopold signed on to a brief alongside more than 100 retired judges advocating for the dismissal of criminal charges against a sitting Wisconsin judge over actions she allegedly took as a judge managing her courtroom.

•  The man accused of injuring 15 people at a demonstration in Boulder appeared in court to face 118 state criminal charges.