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

Colorado’s federal trial court has appointed the state’s U.S. attorney, and lawyers heard about how to practice safe use of artificial intelligence.

Heard on appeal

•  The Colorado Supreme Court decided organizations, like newspapers, are entitled to recover the legal costs of successfully litigating a public entity’s open meetings violation.

•  An Arapahoe County prosecutor improperly commented on a defendant’s silence to police, leading the Court of Appeals to order a new assault trial.

•  Next week, the state Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in eight cases, including two at East High School in Denver. Here are the appeals:

Townsell v. People: This case is about how convicted defendants must show that their arguments for postconviction relief are sufficient to require a judge to appoint an attorney to investigate further.

Hupke v. People: Does the crime of influencing a public servant need to be committed by the defendant, or can the defendant still be charged if a third party is the one who does the influencing?

Hertz Corporation v. Babayev: Can car rental companies also be “insurers” based on the policies they offer?

Moreno v. Circle K Stores, Inc.: The court has accepted a federal judge’s request to decide whether an employer can terminate a worker who acts in self-defense.

Beagle v. People: Is lifetime sex offender registration “punishment?” And if so, is it cruel and unusual?

Lopez v. People: Can the defense’s suggestion that a witness has been coached open the door to an expert testifying that the witness was being truthful?

People v. Lulei: Did a trial judge properly exclude a defendant’s statements to police due to the conversation that occurred after his request for an attorney?

Mitchell v. People: The court will decide if prosecutors selectively tried two Black defendants for murder while giving plea deals to two non-Black co-defendants.

•  There will also be a hearing on proposed rule changes to the licensed legal paraprofessional program, in which non-lawyers may practice law to a limited extent in domestic relations cases.

In federal news

•  The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Chiles v. Salazar, a case that questions whether Colorado’s restriction on “conversion therapy” for state-licensed professionals violates the First Amendment rights of a Christian counselor.

•  Colorado’s federal trial court exercised its prerogative under the law to appoint Peter McNeilly as the state’s U.S. attorney until there is a U.S. Senate-confirmed nominee.

•  A federal judge dismissed a Florida businessman’s challenge to the restrictions placed upon him by the entity charged with investigating and preventing abuse to Olympic athletes.

•  A judge told the government that the lapse in congressional appropriations didn’t entitle the government to a delay in responding to a man’s constitutional challenge to his immigration detention.

•  A Muslim amputee incarcerated in Colorado’s “supermax” prison proved a violation of his constitutional right to religious exercise, a judge determined.

•  A federal judge concluded a plaintiff who was unsuccessfully prosecuted twice for sex assault hadn’t shown how the prosecutor “emboldened” the accuser to lie to a grand jury.

•  A judge determined a fire district chief violated the due process rights of an ex-employee, but that the employee wasn’t terminated for his First Amendment-protected speech or union affiliation.

Vacancies and appointments

•  The chief justice has appointed Anne K. Norrdin to be the chief judge of the Ninth Judicial District (Garfield, Rio Blanco and Pitkin counties). Norrdin has been a district judge since 2016 and she succeeds retired Chief Judge John Neiley.

Miscellaneous proceedings

•  Federal and state judges spoke with attorneys about their professional obligations in situations involving improper use of artificial intelligence, misgendering litigants in the courtroom and other tricky scenarios.

•  U.S. Magistrate Judge Maritza Dominguez Braswell advised lawyers to familiarize themselves with AI in low-stakes situations, and noted that artificial intelligence is encroaching on more and more aspects of society.

On break

•  Court Crawl will be on break next week and will return in late October.