cgia
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Appeals judge suggests revising governmental immunity law in response to Manitou Springs’ ‘hide-the-ball’ conduct
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A member of the state’s second-highest court has suggested lawmakers revise Colorado’s governmental immunity law to prevent public entities from torpedoing lawsuits by withholding the identity of the actual party responsible for an injury. Last week, a three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals agreed Jaimi J. Mostellar’s lawsuit against Colorado Springs must be dismissed…
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Colorado Supreme Court shoots down condo association’s lawsuit against Aspen for construction defects
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The Colorado Supreme Court clarified on Monday that litigants may not use a judicial doctrine focused on breaches of contract to sue municipalities for negligently constructed housing, effectively sidestepping the broad immunity state law provides to government entities. The Colorado Governmental Immunity Act, with limited exceptions, shields public entities from lawsuits over injuries they cause.…
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Colorado Supreme Court walks back ruling denying immunity to speeding officer who killed 2
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The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday walked back a ruling by the state’s second-highest court that broadened first responders’ liability for injuries, instead concluding emergency vehicle operators need not activate their lights and sirens during the entirety of a pursuit in order to keep their immunity from lawsuits. After an Olathe police officer, traveling in…
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Colorado justices agree Jeffco not immune from parking garage slip-and-fall suit
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The Colorado Supreme Court agreed on Monday that a parking garage owned by Jefferson County qualified as a “public building” and a resurfacing project that created a hazard amounted to “maintenance,” which, in combination, meant the county is not immune from liability for a woman’s slip-and-fall. The case implicated the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act, which…
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Colorado Supreme Court weighs immunity for speeding officer who killed 2
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In July 2018, Officer Justin Hice of Olathe was in pursuit of a speeding car, accelerating to more than 100 mph before he accidentally struck a different vehicle and killed its two occupants. Last year, the state’s Court of Appeals concluded Hice was not shielded from liability under the broad immunity Colorado law provides to…
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Colorado justices hear arguments on Jeffco slip-and-fall, man’s pursuit of bike thief
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Members of the Colorado Supreme Court on Thursday considered whether the state law that broadly shields the government from civil lawsuits applies to upgrades of public parking garages, raising the possibility of cities and counties being increasingly on the hook for personal injury claims in the future. The justices also heard a second case questioning…
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Appeals court rejects Adams County’s argument that sheriff’s office is not a ‘public entity’
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Colorado’s second-highest court last week rejected an argument from Adams County that sheriffs’ offices are not actually “public entities” that, consequently, cannot be held liable for deputies’ motor vehicle collisions. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals acknowledged that multiple prior court cases stated as fact that sheriffs’ offices are public entities, but none…
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Colorado appeals court reinstates slip-and-fall lawsuit against Jeffco
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The state’s Court of Appeals last month reinstated a woman’s lawsuit against Jefferson County for allegedly failing to prevent her slip-and-fall inside a county building. The decision in Krista Dozier’s case comes as the Colorado Supreme Court is preparing to hear another appeal involving Jeffco, where a woman injured herself yards away from Dozier’s fall.…
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Rio Blanco County sheriff’s officials can be held liable for jail suicide, appeals court rules
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The immunity that Colorado law broadly affords to government entities does not shield employees of the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office from being sued for the death of a jail detainee, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday. On her third day in the county jail, Catherine Rowell died by suicide. Sheriff’s personnel allegedly failed to…
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State Supreme Court takes up governmental immunity cases for trip-and-fall, speeding officer
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The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to review two appeals questioning the boundaries of the government’s general immunity from civil lawsuits, with one case involving a trip-and-fall in Jefferson County and the other implicating a police officer in Montrose County who killed two people during a pursuit. At least three of the seven members of…
