brian flynn
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Appeals court reverses Mesa County murder conviction after faulty jury instruction
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Colorado’s second-highest court has found a Mesa County judge provided a jury instruction that was unsupported by the evidence, requiring reversal of the defendant’s 2019 murder conviction. Although the defense attorney for Joseph William Peace did not object to the faulty self-defense instruction at the time, a three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals deemed…
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Appeals court orders new trial after Mesa County judge let biased jurors serve
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Four jurors should not have served on a woman’s Mesa County trial, the state’s Court of Appeals determined, because they all volunteered they would believe police officers over the word of a non-officer simply due to their status as law enforcement. A three-judge panel for the appellate court reversed the felony assault conviction of Brenda…
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Court recommends dismissing claims against top Mesa County judge for prolonged detention
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A federal magistrate judge recommended dismissing the claims against Mesa County’s top judge over his alleged role in a woman’s two-week detention without bail, a right guaranteed in Colorado’s constitution. At the same time, U.S. Magistrate Judge Nina Y. Wang on Jan. 27 recommended against dismissing one of Michelle Reynolds’ constitutional claims against the sheriffs of…
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Man settles with Mesa County’s top judge for $100,000 over wrongful arrests
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A man who was wrongfully arrested seven times based on an outdated protection order has settled his lawsuit with the chief judge of Mesa County for $100,000. Attorneys for Elson Foster indicated the Colorado Department of Corrections had also agreed to provide weekly reports to the judicial branch about inmates released from custody or who…
