boulder county
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Appeals court clarifies attorneys may ‘borrow’ allegations from other litigation when filing suit
Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday made it easier for plaintiffs to bolster their civil claims, concluding attorneys are not forbidden from using allegations in other litigation in their own complaints. Under Colorado’s rules for civil cases, attorneys must attest that the complaints they file are well-grounded in fact to the best of their “knowledge, information, and…
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Colorado AG’s office scolded by appeals court for belated shift in argument
The Colorado Attorney General’s Office received a rebuke from the state’s second-highest court on Thursday after it asked a panel of appellate judges to reverse course on a recent decision with an argument it never raised previously. Under the state’s appellate rules, a party may submit a petition for rehearing to the Court of Appeals…
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Boulder man’s attempted sex assault convictions overturned due to detectives’ actions
A Boulder man will receive a new trial after Colorado’s second-highest court determined last month that a pair of detectives improperly detained and interrogated him about an attempted sex assault instead of simply collecting his DNA as a court authorized them to do. Angel Adrian Castro-Velasquez is serving 18 years to life in prison on…
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Colorado Supreme Court signals possible intervention in lawsuit over climate change impacts
The Colorado Supreme Court signaled on Monday it may intervene in a lawsuit out of Boulder County seeking to make ExxonMobil liable for damages resulting from climate change, one of many ongoing attempts across the country to hold oil and gas producers accountable for the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions. Boulder County and the city of Boulder…
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Appeals court agrees Boulder County judge needed to look into attorney’s alleged unauthorized practice
Colorado’s second-highest court agreed earlier this month that a Boulder County judge mistakenly rejected a man’s petition for postconviction relief when she should have looked into his allegation that his defense lawyer represented him despite being unauthorized to practice law. David Keith McCoy pleaded guilty in 2012 to organized crime and drug possession charges and…
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Boulder County detectives violated suspect’s Miranda rights, Supreme Court rules
Boulder County sheriff’s detectives continued to interrogate a murder suspect even after he definitively invoked his constitutional right to remain silent, the Colorado Supreme Court concluded on Monday in barring the prosecution from using the man’s in-custody statements at trial. The Boulder County District Attorney’s Office insisted a pair of detectives attempted to end the…
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Colorado Supreme Court to hear medical malpractice appeal, signals interest in DUI case
The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday it will review whether the longstanding provision in state law generally capping medical malpractice awards to plaintiffs also applies to the interest accrued from the time of the plaintiff’s injury, without exception. At least three of the court’s seven members must agree to hear a case on appeal.…
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Colorado Supreme Court overrules itself on felony DUI, makes it harder for defendants to challenge convictions
The Colorado Supreme Court took the unusual step on Monday of partially overruling its own landmark decision from less than four years ago, concluding drunk drivers who were not tried in accordance with state law are not entitled to automatic reversal of their convictions. The court’s majority also clarified that when settled law changes during…
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Colorado Supreme Court clarifies when defendants may call prosecutors as witnesses
The Colorado Supreme Court clarified on Monday that criminal defendants may only call prosecutors as witnesses when there is a “compelling and legitimate reason,” and a man facing charges in Boulder County had not met that threshold in his case. The justices elected to hear the prosecution’s appeal in the ongoing proceedings against Harold Lloyd…
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Appeals court finds no connection to local government necessary to enforce open meetings law
For the first time, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled last week that every person in the state may challenge governmental compliance with the open meetings law, regardless of whether they have a connection to the government body at issue. In 2014, state legislators amended the open meetings law to allow “any person” whose rights were denied…