Author: Michael Karlik
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Colorado’s federal magistrate judges unveil standardized courtroom procedures for first time
Colorado’s federal magistrate judges presented their proposal for a first-ever set of joint courtroom procedures to an audience of lawyers last week, and emphasized litigants will get a speedier resolution to their case if they agree to let a magistrate judge handle it. Several months after a group of life-tenured district judges on Colorado’s federal…
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Report: Complaints against judges jumped in 2023, with several stemming from Trump disqualification case
Misconduct allegations against judges jumped by more than 38% between 2022 and 2023, with almost a dozen complaints stemming from last year’s proceedings to disqualify Donald Trump from the presidential primary ballot, according to a report from the state’s judicial discipline body. The summary report from the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline also noted an…
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Divided Colorado appeals court upholds sex abuse convictions despite problematic testimony
By 2-1, Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday upheld a man’s child sex assault convictions despite an expert witness vouching for the credibility of the victims – which is typically improper. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals agreed Gustavo Lopez “opened the door” to the problematic evidence by suggesting his child victims had been…
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Douglas County judge let prosecutors present misleading evidence of sex assault, appeals court rules
A Douglas County judge allowed prosecutors to mislead the jury into thinking they should still convict a man of sexual assault despite the absence of his DNA, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday in overturning the convictions of Clayton Angus Hood. Jurors found Hood guilty of raping a teenage girl who lived in his household.…
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Federal judge grants immunity to Westminster officer for shooting mentally ill man
A federal judge on Thursday concluded a Westminster police officer cannot be held liable for shooting and killing a man in an apparent mental health crisis. Birendra Thakuri’s mother filed suit against Officer Steven Bare and the city one year after her son’s death in August 2018, alleging Bare used excessive force or, alternatively, created…
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Colorado Supreme Court to hear 2 cases on pandemic-era trial livestreaming
Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic first took hold in Colorado, the state Supreme Court announced on Monday it will review the constitutionality of two judges’ decisions to bar spectators from their courtrooms and instead rely upon livestreaming during a pair of criminal trials. At least three of the court’s seven members must agree to hear…
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Colorado Supreme Court ponders where to draw line on sex offenders living with child relatives
The Colorado Supreme Court on Wednesday grappled with how to ensure a convicted defendant’s relationship with a minor family member is protected, while at the same time allowing courts to impose no-contact directives with children as part of sex offender probation. Following his Adams County conviction, Abdullahi Salah lived with his sister and her infant…
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Colorado Supreme Court weighs Amazon’s obligation to pay millions more in overtime
Members of the state Supreme Court heard on Wednesday that Colorado will be an outlier among all states if its wage regulations require companies to include incentive pay for time worked on holidays when calculating employees’ overtime compensation. At the same time, the justices repeatedly returned to the text of the disputed regulation, which provides…
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Colorado justices skeptical of education co-ops’ ability to locate schools outside boundaries
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court gave a chilly reception on Tuesday to the idea that school boards, when organized into regional cooperatives to provide educational services, may locate facilities outside their boundaries over the objection of a local district. Under Colorado law, boards of cooperative services, or BOCES, allow for school districts to band…
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Federal judge open to financial penalties after Gunnison landlords continue defying orders
A federal judge on Wednesday appeared to accept that despite going out of his way to accommodate their participation, a trio of Gunnison landlords will continue to disobey his orders and ignore the housing non-discrimination agreement they voluntarily entered into with the government four years ago. At the same time, U.S. District Court Judge Gordon…