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

The state Supreme Court held oral arguments in multiple cases and traveled to the Eastern Plains to visit with students, plus the chief judge of the Court of Appeals is retiring.

Supreme Court news

•  The Colorado Supreme Court decided a woman injured on a Manitou Springs sidewalk could not sue the entity that’s actually responsible because Manitou Springs waited for more than a year to tell her who the proper defendant was.

•  By 4-3, the Supreme Court ruled that experts can testify about whether child witnesses displayed signs of coaching whenever a defendant makes the possibility of adult influence a focal point at trial.

•  The justices seemed willing to uphold the revised jury instruction defining “reasonable doubt” as constitutional after a defendant’s lawyers focused not on the critiques from Court of Appeals judges but on their own commissioned research into juror comprehension of the language.

•  The Supreme Court was concerned about the ability of police to interrogate a person despite having a narrow authorization to collect physical evidence only.

•  The justices didn’t appear sympathetic to a man who was injured while snowboarding and sued the resort operator after he bought another ski pass, waiving his right to sue while the case was pending.

•  The Supreme Court considered whether the mandated disclosure of a ballot measure committee’s legal representative on its election ads amounts to a First Amendment violation.

•  The court recognized that the federal government has put Children’s Hospital Colorado in a tough place by threatening to pull funding if the hospital provides certain services to trans kids that it otherwise has no issue with providing.

•  The justices discussed the practical implications of requiring that prosecutors prove a leaving-the-scene defendant has some knowledge that they were involved in an accident that resulted in injury.

•  The Supreme Court visited Holyoke in northeastern Colorado as part of its “Courts in the Community” programming, which is celebrating its 40-year anniversary in 2026. This was the first time Justice Susan Blanco got to participate, 1.5 months after joining the court.

Heard on appeal

•  By 2-1, the Court of Appeals decided that jurors needed to know the scope of paramedics’ lawful duties before they could determine whether a defendant properly defended himself from their attempt to forcibly transport him.

•  A juror’s dishonesty about his own criminal conviction wasn’t grounds for ordering a new trial, the Court of Appeals concluded.

•  A defendant will receive a new trial because an Arapahoe County judge prevented his attorney from cross-examining a witness about her own pending criminal charges in the same jurisdiction.

• Douglas County intends to appeal a Court of Appeals decision finding its commissioners violated the state’s open meetings law.

In federal news

•  The U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal out of Colorado about the right of Catholic preschools to receive state funding in spite of their policies that do not comply with the state’s non-discrimination requirements.

•  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit rejected the arguments by Denver and one of its officers after a jury found them liable for $14 million for violating the constitutional rights of protesters in 2020.

•  Police were getting ready to execute a search warrant on a suspect’s home when the guy drove right past them, prompting a detective to pull the suspect over and take his cell phone. By 2-1, the 10th Circuit said there was no constitutional problem.

• The 10th Circuit decided an insurance company didn’t need to pay benefits to injured motorists whose car flipped over when they served to avoid a man who was in the middle of the interstate.

• The 10th Circuit issued a multifaceted decision in a case challenging the constitutionality of Colorado’s “ghost gun” prohibition, but the bottom line is that a trial judge will need to redo his analysis for a preliminary injunction.

•  Frontier Airlines will need to pay the government for security fees that it held onto when passengers canceled their tickets and didn’t use the airline’s credit in time, the 10th Circuit ruled by 2-1.

• U.S. District Court Chief Judge Daniel D. Domenico became the first federal judge in Colorado to side with the government’s expansive view of its ability to detain people in immigration custody without giving them a bond hearing.

•  A judge allowed a disabled plaintiff to proceed with her lawsuit against the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office after it allegedly left her with no choice but to walk 8.8 miles home overnight from the jail.

•  A judge dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit from a man whose ski resort vacation was ruined by long lines and slope closures as the result of a worker strike.

Vacancies and appointments

•  Applications are due by May 27 to succeed retiring Chief Judge Gilbert M. Román on the Court of Appeals. Román, who joined the court in 2005, was already scheduled to end his four-year term as chief in August and yield the gavel to Judge Ted C. Tow III. Now, he is stepping down entirely.

•  The governor appointed Magistrate Kara E. Clark to the Eighth Judicial District Court (Larimer and Jackson counties), where she will succeed now-Justice Susan Blanco.

•  The governor selected two new judges for the Fourth Judicial District Court (El Paso and Teller counties): Mary K. Linden, who will succeed retiring Judge David Prince, and Magistrate Amy P. Cullen Cano, who is filling a seat recently created under state law.

•  The governor also appointed Magistrate Douglas G. Bechtel to succeed retiring Judge Steven Katzman on the El Paso County Court.

•  There are three finalists for a newly created seat on the Douglas County Court: Arapahoe County Magistrate W. Casey Brown, Matthew Allen Chaput, and Bradley Randall Whitfield.

•  There are also three finalists to succeed retiring District Court Judge Ben L. Leutwyler in the 23rd Judicial District (Douglas, Elbert, and Lincoln counties): Arapahoe County Magistrate Beth Ann Elliott-Dumler, Douglas County Magistrate Meghan M. Gallo, and Jason A. Kramer.

•  There are three candidates to fill a newly created seat on the Seventh Judicial District Court (Delta, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose, Ouray, and San Miguel counties): Magistrate Joseph B. Gaffney, former elected district attorney and former Dolores County Court Judge Matthew Gregory Margeson, and Hinsdale County Court Judge James R. McDonald.

•  There are three finalists for a newly created Mesa County Court seat: Adams County Court Judge Courtney L. Dinnel, Magistrate Matthew Bryson Hardin, and Lake County Court Judge John Gregory Scott.

•  Finally, there are three contenders for a newly created Eagle County Court judgeship: Leslee K. Balten, Joshua D. Savelkoul, and Dolores/Montezuma County Magistrate Kristen M. Tarrin.

•  Applications are due by May 27 to succeed retiring District Court Judge Martin F. Egelhoff in Denver.

Miscellaneous proceedings

•  After technical issues last week, the state’s Judicial Discipline Rule-Making Committee will hold a make-up virtual public comment session on May 1 on a set of proposed rules.

•  State legislators have introduced a bill expanding the ability of people to sue government officials, including at the federal level, for violating their constitutional rights.

•  There are events on April 30 and on May 1 for lawyers who are interested in seeking a judicial appointment in the First and 13th judicial districts, respectively.