court of appeals
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Colorado Supreme Court accepts child neglect, unlawful search appeals
The Colorado Supreme Court recently announced that it will decide whether a series of missteps led an El Paso County judge to improperly terminate a father’s parental rights, and whether a police officer defendant bears the burden of proving that his warrantless vehicle search was legally justified. At least three of the court’s seven members…
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State Supreme Court’s final decisions of term, Trump’s judicial nominee appears before Senate | COURT CRAWL
Welcome to Court Crawl, Colorado Politics’ roundup of news from the third branch of government. The state Supreme Court has released its final opinions before its summer recess, plus the president’s nominee for the Denver-based federal appeals court fielded questions from the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Colorado Supreme Court news • The Supreme Court decided…
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Appeals court revives tenants’ lawsuit over landlords’ illegal fee demands
Colorado’s second-highest court revived a proposed class-action lawsuit against landlords and other entities last month, concluding that state law did not permit the practice of demanding that tenants pay attorney fees in certain eviction proceedings. In 2021, lawmakers enacted a process by which tenants facing eviction can “cure” their delinquent payments. After a landlord has…
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Appeals court reverses Jeffco assault convictions due to omitted jury instruction
Colorado’s second-highest court agreed last month that a Jefferson County defendant’s assault convictions could not stand because his jury should have been allowed to consider whether he used force against a bar patron to defend his girlfriend from inappropriate touching. While the testimony conflicted and the surveillance video was not conclusive, jurors heard that Scott…
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Colorado Supreme Court tosses man’s lawsuit over daughter’s traffic death
The Colorado Supreme Court applied a confusing matrix of conditions and deadlines in state law to conclude on Monday that a man waited too long to sue after his daughter was rendered unconscious and later died from a vehicle accident. At the same time, the justices acknowledged that their interpretation may result in differential treatment…
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Colorado Supreme Court upholds child abuse convictions despite faulty jury instruction
The Colorado Supreme Court decided on Monday that a San Miguel County jury properly convicted a defendant of child abuse resulting in death, even though the instructions potentially allowed jurors to avoid finding that the child abuse resulted in death. The court agreed unanimously that the jury instructions for finding Madani Ceus guilty of a…
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Colorado justices say group that spent $4M on ballot initiatives does not have to disclose donors
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that an organization that spent $4 million to advocate on ballot initiatives in the 2020 election is not required to disclose its donors and spending. The Supreme Court acknowledged that multiple factors suggested Unite for Colorado was a group whose “major purpose” was ballot issue advocacy. However, because…
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Colorado justices discuss solution to confusion from prior criminal ruling
The Colorado Supreme Court pondered the fallout on Tuesday from its nearly six-year-old decision interpreting the state’s impaired driving laws, with the justices now addressing how defendants affected by the legal change must seek postconviction relief. In contrast to other criminal appeals, there was no dispute that defendant Charles Crabtree could file a motion in…
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Colorado justices suggest father entitled to appeal of custody decision
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court signaled strongly on Tuesday that a father deserved some avenue for challenging a temporary child custody order that no lower court believed it could review due to the unusual circumstances of the case. Because the appeal involved a child welfare matter, neither the underlying filings describing the case nor…
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Colorado justices agree fraud claims belong in corporate dispute
The Colorado Supreme Court decided on Tuesday that a corporate plaintiff validly pursued fraud claims over conduct that was not covered by a contract or by a set of interrelated business agreements leading up to the contract. Previously, the Court of Appeals found that Veolia Water Technologies, Inc. had a duty, independent from any contract,…