arapahoe county
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Appeals court clarifies evidence safeguards apply to child welfare caseworkers
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Colorado’s second-highest court clarified on Thursday that caseworkers testifying as experts in child neglect cases are subject to the same safeguards for reliability that other “specialized knowledge” testimony must satisfy. Under the rules of evidence, judges can deem a witness an expert by virtue of their knowledge, skills, experience, training or education. After being qualified,…
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Appeals court overturns orders by Arapahoe County magistrate who did not ‘recall this case’
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday overturned a series of orders from a divorce case where an Arapahoe County magistrate admitted he did not recall what was going on but proceeded to rule anyway. A three-judge Court of Appeals panel noted the procedural rules require judges and magistrates to specifically state their findings of facts and…
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Appeals court finds no discrimination in dismissals of jurors of color across 3 cases
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Colorado’s second-highest court recently agreed prosecutors did not unconstitutionally remove jurors of color in three criminal cases for racial reasons. The Court of Appeals encountered significant variation in how the trial judges approached the prosecution’s dismissal of each juror. One judge explained the circumstances at length, one judge gave virtually no explanation and the third…
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Appeals judge calls for investigation into law firm’s handling of potential murder weapon
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A member of Colorado’s second-highest court took the extraordinary step on Thursday of calling for an investigation into the “serious ethical issues” raised by a criminal defense firm’s concealment of a potential murder weapon at its office without notifying the prosecution. A three-judge Court of Appeals panel upheld the convictions of Daniel Jesus Lopez, who is…
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Appeals court orders new murder trial for teen after judge blocked self-defense evidence
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Colorado’s second-highest court overturned a defendant’s murder conviction last week after concluding an Arapahoe County judge wrongly barred evidence suggesting the man acted in self-defense. There was no dispute that 18-year-old Joseph Dean McCaughin shot and killed 16-year-old Ryan Robertson in Aurora in May 2019. In the prosecution’s telling, McCaughin was jealous of Robertson, who was…
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10th Circuit rules child welfare worker immune for alleged false statements at custody hearing
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The Denver-based federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that a child welfare worker’s testimony during a temporary custody hearing, even if it was false, cannot be the basis for a civil lawsuit under the longstanding principle shielding witness statements in judicial proceedings. A trial judge previously believed the allegedly untruthful statements of former Arapahoe County…
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Appeals court overturns carjacking-related convictions after evidence error
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Colorado’s second-highest court overturned some of a defendant’s carjacking-related convictions on Thursday, finding Arapahoe County prosecutors failed to establish that his text messages apparently confessing to the crime were admissible as evidence. The three-judge Court of Appeals panel also concluded the search warrant used to obtain information from T-Mobile was unconstitutionally broad, with some judges…
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Colorado Supreme Court clarifies requirements of child prostitution offense
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The Colorado Supreme Court waded into a split that developed in the state’s second-highest court, clarifying on Monday that prosecutors do not need to prove a defendant intended specifically for a child to be prostituted in order to secure a conviction. Under Colorado law, soliciting for child prostitution is an offense that requires someone to…
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Colorado Supreme Court weighs time to sue for minimum wage violations in absence of directive
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With the state’s minimum wage law silent on the subject, the Colorado Supreme Court attempted to figure out on Tuesday how much time workers have to file claims against their employers. There were seemingly two options: Up to three years from the violation, as is the case for claims under the neighboring Colorado Wage Claim Act;…
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Colorado justices uphold $10.5 million award in downstairs meth lab case
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The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday upheld a judge’s $10.5 million award to a woman and her daughter for their injuries stemming from toxic exposure from a suspected downstairs meth lab in their Littleton apartment building. The court originally took up the appeal to decide when a person or entity is required to preserve evidence…
