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

A federal judge deemed a government defendant’s appeal “frivolous,” and the state Supreme Court will have an abbreviated oral argument schedule next week.

Heard on appeal

•  The Colorado Supreme Court established a framework for determining if someone’s statements addressed an issue in the public interest, which would be covered under the state’s anti-SLAPP law and potentially be shielded from defamation claims.

•  Online review site Yelp had weighed in to the Supreme Court, and applauded the decision as recognizing that “reviewers who share their first-hand experiences about local businesses are entitled to anti-SLAPP protections.”

•  A Mesa County judge wrongly determined a hatchet couldn’t be a “knife” for purposes of Colorado’s felony menacing law, but the Court of Appeals said a jury could decide otherwise.

•  Even though the Supreme Court said the law doesn’t allow for this, a Mesa County judge decided to leave “open” the question of whether a criminal defendant owed financial restitution to his victim. Consequently, the Court of Appeals voided the $66,000 restitution obligation.

In federal news

•  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit decided a man’s 20-year-old drunk driving convictions could be used in his deportation proceedings to determine if he had “good moral character” now.

•  The 10th Circuit agreed a Greeley police officer lacked reasonable suspicion to detain a man who was standing outside a residence and not engaging in any indicators of criminal activity.

•  By 2-1, the 10th Circuit ruled a defendant charged with drug crimes should be released from custody pending trial.

•  Jefferson County immediately appealed a judge’s evidentiary order, which the plaintiffs argued was unprecedented and “frivolous.” A federal judge agreed his order wasn’t the same as denying the government defendants qualified immunity, so it didn’t have the same immediately appealable quality of a qualified immunity decision.

•  A federal judge recommended imposing sanctions on a pair of self-represented plaintiffs who submitted several filings with faulty legal citations, possibly stemming from the use of artificial intelligence.

•  A judge declined to order convicted Mesa County clerk Tina Peters released on bond because the state’s Court of Appeals would be addressing her constitutional argument in her criminal appeal.

•  A federal judge rejected Denver Public Schools’ attempt to obtain sourcing documents from 9News that the plaintiff in a lawsuit provided as part of his interview.

•  While expressing doubts about the evidence, a federal judge allowed a man’s employment discrimination lawsuit to proceed against his former employer, the town of Castle Rock.

• Although Children’s Hospital Colorado wished to shield its challenge to a federal subpoena from public view, a judge didn’t believe the hospital demonstrated additional harms would flow from public access to the case.

• A federal judge declined to order Denver to let a police critic apply to its use-of-force review board.

• A judge dismissed a First Amendment claim against state health department leaders in a challenge to Colorado’s new gas stove labeling law.

Vacancies and appointments

•  The governor appointed civil litigator Daniel M. St. John II to succeed retired District Court Judge Stephen J. Jouard in the Eighth Judicial District (Larimer and Jackson counties).

•  There are three finalists to succeed incoming District Court Judge R. Reid Stewart in his role as a La Plata County Court judge: Katie A. Dittelberger, Miles M. Dudley and Douglas J. Reynolds.

•  There are also three contenders to succeed now-Archuleta County Court Judge Anthony D. Edwards in his former role on the San Juan County Court: Laura N. Freeman, Shane E. Goranson and Kelly Jean Tompkins.

Miscellaneous proceedings

•  The man who admitted to killing multiple people at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood facility in 2015 recently died from congestive heart failure, after years of being incompetent to proceed in court.

•  A Denver judge rejected Gov. Jared Polis’ attempt to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a former state employee over the disclosure of information to federal immigration authorities.

On break

•  Court Crawl will be off next week. However, here is a preview of the oral arguments scheduled for the Colorado Supreme Court. It’s a short schedule, with only two arguments on Tuesday plus one rules hearing:

Mostellar v. City of Colorado Springs: What should happen when a government defendant doesn’t tell the plaintiff that another government entity is actually responsible for her injuries until the deadline in state law has passed?

Progressive Direct Insurance Company v. Ortiz: Did a trial judge prevent an insurer from adequately defending itself in a lawsuit where the at-fault driver didn’t participate at all?

•  The public hearing will address a proposed rule clarifying that lawyers’ improper use of artificial intelligence tools may be grounds for discipline.