assault
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Assault, murder convictions reversed in 2 cases for judges’ errors
Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday reversed two sets of criminal convictions because trial judges gave improper instructions to jurors or incorrectly allowed damaging evidence to be heard. In the first case out of Jefferson County, jurors convicted Clinton Eugene Priest of murdering and assaulting Robert Miller after the two men got into a physical confrontation outside…
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El Paso County domestic violence conviction reversed because of biased juror
Colorado’s second-highest court has ordered a new trial for a man convicted of domestic violence-related offenses after acknowledging an unusual scenario in which the trial judge, prosecutor and defense attorney confused one juror for another, and neglected to dismiss the juror they all agreed was biased. An El Paso County jury convicted Cory James Wooldridge in…
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El Paso County domestic violence conviction reversed because of biased juror
Colorado’s second-highest court has ordered a new trial for a man convicted of domestic violence-related offenses after acknowledging an unusual scenario in which the trial judge, prosecutor and defense attorney confused one juror for another, and neglected to dismiss the juror they all agreed was biased. An El Paso County jury convicted Cory James Wooldridge in…
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El Paso County domestic violence conviction reversed because of biased juror
Colorado’s second-highest court has ordered a new trial for a man convicted of domestic violence-related offenses after acknowledging an unusual scenario in which the trial judge, prosecutor and defense attorney confused one juror for another, and neglected to dismiss the juror they all agreed was biased. An El Paso County jury convicted Cory James Wooldridge in…
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Arapahoe County domestic violence conviction reversed for constitutional violation
An Arapahoe County judge improperly limited a defendant’s constitutional right to confront her victim, prompting Colorado’s second-highest court to reverse her conviction last month. Jurors found Richel Lee Gurule guilty in 2022 of assaulting her romantic partner at the time. Each woman said the other was the aggressor. Before trial, the judge permitted the defense…
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Arapahoe County domestic violence conviction reversed for constitutional violation
An Arapahoe County judge improperly limited a defendant’s constitutional right to confront her victim, prompting Colorado’s second-highest court to reverse her conviction last month. Jurors found Richel Lee Gurule guilty in 2022 of assaulting her romantic partner at the time. Each woman said the other was the aggressor. Before trial, the judge permitted the defense…
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Arapahoe County domestic violence conviction reversed for constitutional violation
An Arapahoe County judge improperly limited a defendant’s constitutional right to confront her victim, prompting Colorado’s second-highest court to reverse her conviction last month. Jurors found Richel Lee Gurule guilty in 2022 of assaulting her romantic partner at the time. Each woman said the other was the aggressor. Before trial, the judge permitted the defense…
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10th Circuit, prosecution, defense all agree federal judge wrongly calculated sentence
After the prosecution and defense were in unusual agreement that a trial judge misapplied the law when determining if a prior conviction amounted to a violent crime, the federal appeals court based in Denver agreed this month that the defendant’s sentence could not stand. Kenneth Devereaux pleaded guilty in 2022 to the federal offense of…
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In rare do-over, appeals court changes reasons for ordering new Denver assault trial
In an unusual move, Colorado’s second-highest court last month withdrew its opinion ordering a new trial for a man convicted of assault, then issued a new decision with heavily modified reasoning. Originally, a three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals overturned Amos Rogers’ criminal convictions and 64-year sentence in October. It reasoned a Denver trial…
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Federal judge allows excessive force claim to proceed against Westminster officers
A federal judge on Tuesday permitted an excessive force claim to proceed against Westminster police officers who allegedly knocked a man unconscious and continued to beat him after he posed no threat. However, U.S. District Court Judge S. Kato Crews based his ruling on the allegations in Jonathan David Smith’s complaint, which did not include…