anthony navarro
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State Supreme Court takes up governmental immunity cases for trip-and-fall, speeding officer
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The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to review two appeals questioning the boundaries of the government’s general immunity from civil lawsuits, with one case involving a trip-and-fall in Jefferson County and the other implicating a police officer in Montrose County who killed two people during a pursuit. At least three of the seven members of…
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By 2-1, appeals court reverses Denver murder conviction based on procedural blunder
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A man serving a life sentence for a brutal Denver murder will receive a new trial after Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday that the original trial judge, prosecutor and defense attorney failed to notice a key witness was never formally authorized as an expert. By 2-1, a panel of the Court of Appeals reversed…
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Appeals court finds athletic club’s liability waiver does not bar sex assault lawsuit
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A child who was sexually abused by her tennis coach may sue the athletic club where he was employed, even though a liability waiver purportedly immunized the club from “any and all claims,” Colorado’s second-highest court ruled this month. Plaintiffs “Jane Doe” and her mother sued Wellbridge Club Management LLC, which operates Colorado Athletic Club-Monaco in Denver,…
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Appeals court says COVID-19 trial precautions were constitutional
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Colorado’s second-highest court ruled for the first time on Thursday that pandemic-era health precautions during jury trials, specifically masking and distancing for jurors, did not violate a defendant’s constitutional rights. Kenneth L. Garcia’s jury trial in July 2020 was the first to take place in Denver after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, the…
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State Supreme Court clarifies how defendants may ask government to return their property
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The Colorado Supreme Court provided guidance on Monday for how convicted criminal defendants may ask law enforcement to return their property seized as part of an investigation. Previously, the state’s Court of Appeals had offered conflicting instructions about whether a judge overseeing a criminal case has the ability to order the return of a defendant’s…
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Appeals court upholds dismissal of Hispanic juror for believing justice system is racist
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Colorado’s second-highest court found no problem with the prosecution dismissing a Hispanic man from an Arapahoe County jury because of his observation that the judicial system is unfair to racial minorities. But for defendant Dustin Aaron Schwarz, the exclusion of the man from his jury exemplified a larger concern that people of color are being…
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Jeffco parking garage a ‘public building’, says appeals court in green-lighting lawsuit
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Although Jefferson County insisted its parking garage was not a “public building” and, therefore, the county could not be sued under Colorado law for a woman’s injuries, the state’s second-highest court rejected those claims on Thursday. The Colorado Governmental Immunity Act generally shields public entities from civil liability in order to prevent taxpayer dollars from…
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Appeals court overturns Jeffco drug conviction for detective’s improper testimony
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Colorado’s second-highest court determined last month that a detective’s expert testimony claiming the defendant had a “classic case” of possessing drugs with an intent to distribute amounted to a fundamental error that required reversing the conviction. State and federal courts have delineated when an expert’s testimony is improper at trial, including when an expert opines…
