arapahoe county

Despite multiple errors, appeals court upholds Arapahoe County drunk driving convictions

Mar 17, 2025

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Michael Karlik

Even though an Arapahoe County judge improperly restricted questioning about a witness’s personal incentives to testify and gave a “manifestly unfair” jury instruction, Colorado’s second-highest court upheld a woman’s drunk driving convictions last week. Jurors convicted Lisa Ann Woodward in 2021 of vehicular assault and driving under the influence after she drove out of a bar’s…
Appeals court finds constitutional violation with man’s child sex offense

Feb 7, 2025

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Michael Karlik

Colorado’s second-highest court concluded on Thursday that an Arapahoe County man’s conviction for unlawful sexual contact on a child violated his constitutional rights and must be vacated. Jurors convicted Lucas Bienvenido Mena in 2021 of multiple sex offenses after hearing he pushed a 12-year-old relative into a bathroom, touched her genitals and took photos of…
Appeals court dismisses state contractor’s defamation suit against Denver7

Jan 31, 2025

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Michael Karlik

Colorado’s second-highest court agreed earlier this month that a former vaccine distribution contractor for the state failed to show Denver7 should be liable for defamation through its series of stories about the company’s problems. Between 2021 and 2022, Denver7 published four articles describing employees of Jogan Health, LLC not receiving payments, false statements in Jogan…
Appeals court interprets ambiguous phrase in Colorado’s criminal records sealing law

Jan 22, 2025

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Michael Karlik

Colorado’s second-highest court last month interpreted for the first time an ambiguous phrase in a 2019 law, and concluded a man convicted two decades ago for securities fraud was not entitled to have his criminal records sealed. Lawmakers enacted House Bill 1275 nearly five years ago to increase the availability of records-sealing for people convicted of less serious…
Colorado justices point to quirk in identity theft law, agree man’s conviction cannot stand

Jan 21, 2025

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Michael Karlik

The Colorado Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday that a man could not stand convicted of identity theft for using the “personal identifying information” of a nonprofit entity, rather than a human being. The state’s identity theft law applies to people who, without authorization, use the financial identifying information or personal identifying information “of another” to obtain something…
A tattoo, the N-word, a different crime: Colorado justices hear appeal of former death row inmate

Jan 15, 2025

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Michael Karlik

Almost 20 years after the murders of a young couple in Aurora, the Colorado Supreme Court heard the appeal of the man convicted of orchestrating the killings and who now alleges numerous errors pervaded his trial. Arapahoe County jurors convicted Robert Keith Ray for the 2005 slayings of Javad Marshall-Fields and Vivian Wolfe. He received…
Colorado lawmakers suggest chief justice’s request for new judges may be nonstarter

Jan 9, 2025

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Michael Karlik

Some members of the legislature’s powerful budget committee cautioned Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez on Tuesday that it would be difficult to justify a spending increase for new judgeships in light of substantial cuts to be made elsewhere. Márquez appeared before the Joint Budget Committee to field questions about the Judicial Department’s $813.2 million budget request for the…
Appeals court warns lawyers, litigants: You will get in trouble for citing AI-invented cases

Dec 27, 2024

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Michael Karlik

Colorado’s second-highest court put attorneys and litigants on notice for the first time on Thursday that they will face consequences if they use artificial intelligence to submit filings with fake citations. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals declined to sanction a self-represented plaintiff after he acknowledged and apologized for his mistake. At the…
Appeals court upholds dismissal of Black juror for negative experiences with police

Dec 27, 2024

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Michael Karlik

Colorado’s second-highest court agreed earlier this month that an Arapahoe County prosecutor did not remove a Black woman from a jury because of her race, even though she had explicitly attributed her prior negative interactions with police to “the color of my skin.” Under longstanding U.S. Supreme Court precedent, intentional race-based discrimination in jury selection…
Colorado justices weigh unique defense to murder for non-triggermen

Nov 20, 2024

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Michael Karlik

Some members of the Colorado Supreme Court on Wednesday signaled their agreement with the notion that a defendant need not admit to committing an underlying offense in order to assert a defense to the more serious crime of felony murder. Felony murder is a unique offense, in which a defendant is guilty if he participates in…