ben leutwyler
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State Supreme Court takes on homeowner insurance issue, shows interest in 2 criminal cases
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The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether two Boulder County homeowners may pursue their insurance claim for hail damage, even though they reported it to their insurer 10 days beyond their policy’s deadline. The legal question and facts are virtually identical to another case the court accepted in December out of Denver, Gregory…
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Appeals court says trial judges cannot initiate probation revocation proceedings
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An Arapahoe County judge went beyond his legal authority when he ordered a defendant’s probation officer to seek revocation of the man’s probation, Colorado’s second-highest court decided last week. The three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals also took the unusual step of removing District Court Judge Ben L. Leutwyler from the case going forward.…
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Convictions reversed in 2 cases due to faulty jury instructions
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Colorado’s second-highest court reversed the convictions of two Arapahoe County criminal defendants earlier this month, citing the failure by the trial judges to properly instruct jurors about the law on self-defense. The circumstances of each case differed slightly. In one instance, the trial judge apparently forgot to read the proper self-defense instruction he had previously…
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State Supreme Court examines whether exclusion of wife from courtroom violated defendants’ rights
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Christopher Nicholas Cruse and Terrel Shameek Turner stood trial together in Arapahoe County in 2017 for the robbery of a marijuana dispensary where Cruse worked. On the third morning of the jury trial, the prosecution informed the trial judge that Cruse’s wife was arrested the prior day for “an encounter” in the hallway with one…
