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

One member of the Colorado Supreme Court remains on an unusual leave of absence, plus the court heard oral arguments in eight more cases last month.

Justice Hart’s absence continues

•  Previously, Colorado Politics reported that Justice Melissa Hart has been on a leave of absence from the state Supreme Court. It started in late October and, as far as Colorado Politics is aware, is still ongoing. The timing of the leave, during the court’s September-June term, means she has missed two months of oral arguments, one opinion and four weeks of case considerations.

•  In mid-November, Hart provided a statement about her absence: “I have very much appreciated the expressions of concern and support I have received from colleagues in the legal community as I have taken a necessary personal leave for family and personal health reasons. I will let the Chief Justice and the State Court Administrator know when the issues are resolved so that I can return to work.”

•  It is unclear what effect her absence is having. For example, since the beginning of November, the Supreme Court indicated that two justices were interested in hearing a pair of appeals. The votes of three justices are necessary, so it’s possible the court would have taken up the cases if Hart had participated.

Oral arguments

•  Last month, the justices attempted to reconcile the pathway for appeals that lawmakers provided in Colorado’s anti-SLAPP law, which created a way to speedily dispose of lawsuits arising from First Amendment-protected activity, with the somewhat-conflicting pathway in the state’s constitution.

•  Although the law governing campaign finance disclosures is now different, some members of the Supreme Court appeared uneasy that a group spending $4 million on ballot initiatives in the 2020 election might not be required to provide transparency into its donations and expenditures.

•  Members also seemed skeptical that Colorado Springs is immune from being sued over a vehicle crash that was the result of partially inoperable traffic signals.

•  The justices seemed comfortable with allowing plaintiffs’ lawyers to “borrow” allegations made by witnesses in other legal proceedings against the same defendant, so long as the attorneys perform some investigation before importing them.

•  The Supreme Court considered what obligations insurance companies have to meet, if any, before they accuse a policyholder of not cooperating with a specific requirement of a claim investigation.

•  The court considered the seemingly extreme consequence lawmakers have imposed for public works contractors who overstate the amount of money they are owed for services provided.

•  The justices were sympathetic to an El Paso County defendant’s argument that the prosecutor in her case filed an improper mid-trial appeal that had the effect of buying the prosecution time to address a judge’s evidentiary ruling.

•  Some justices seemed concerned that a defendant was not allowed to introduce evidence of her mental condition at her murder trial, when the underlying reason was the failure of the state’s mental hospital to comply with a judge’s orders to evaluate her.

•  The Supreme Court heard from multiple commenters that the proposed changes to attorney discipline should make clear that a lawyer can be professionally investigated at any point for allegations of unlawful sexual conduct.

• The justices will consider whether a corporation can be held liable for a “felonious killing,” meaning they committed the equivalent of murder or manslaughter, and have no limit to what they might pay for pain and suffering-type damages.

• The court also signaled it may intervene in four ongoing cases in the trial courts, with issues that include expert evidence, eminent domain and a jury that was deadlocked on only some criminal charges.

Heard on appeal

• For the third time, the state’s Court of Appeals confirmed that an Alamosa County judge violated a defendant’s constitutional right to a public trial and the consequence is a new trial.

•  A faulty self-defense jury instruction prompted the Court of Appeals to overturn an Arapahoe County murder conviction.

In federal news

• A federal judge ordered immigration authorities to follow the law on warrantless arrests, meaning they need probable cause that a person is both in the country illegally and is a flight risk.

•  In an unusual move, a federal judge fined an attorney $3,000 for including faulty citations in court filings and being evasive when her opposing counsel called it out.

•  A federal judge allowed a challenge to the government’s mandatory immigration detentions to proceed as a class action, while noting that she expected the government to follow any declaration she makes about the rights of detainees.

Vacancies and appointments

•  The lieutenant governor, as the acting governor, appointed Montrose County Court Judge Laura E.H. Harvell to succeed retiring District Court Judge Mary E. Deganhart in the Seventh Judicial District (Delta, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose, Ouray and San Miguel counties).

•  The lieutenant governor also appointed high school teacher and community college adjunct professor Sabrina D. James to the Kiowa County Court, where she succeeds former Judge Pamela E. Johnston.

•  There are three finalists to succeed retiring District Court Judge Stephen J. Jouard in the Eighth Judicial District (Larimer and Jackson counties): Magistrate Kara E. Clark, Magistrate Jeffrey M. Schwartz and Daniel M. St. John II.

•  Applications are due by Dec. 18 to succeed Harvell on the Montrose County Court.

•  Applications are due by Dec. 12 to succeed Las Animas County Court Judge John D. Mochel,who is retiring.

•  Finally, applications are due by Dec. 22 to succeed retiring Arapahoe County Court Judge Michael J. Roche.

Miscellaneous proceedings

•  One member of a three-person panel adjudicating a county court judge’s discipline allegations has been replaced due to her non-responsiveness, and another county court judge is challenging the procedures used in his own discipline case.

•  Next week, the Aurora Municipal Court is holding a warrant-clearance event for certain types of cases.