court of appeals
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Colorado Supreme Court narrows consumer protection law for insurance claims
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the legislature’s consumer protections requiring insurance companies to take certain steps before they allege a policyholder failed to cooperate do not apply to any obligation specifically laid out in the policy. In 2020, the legislature changed state law to limit insurance companies’ ability to assert a failure-to-cooperate defense when…
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Car rental companies are not ‘insurers,’ Colorado Supreme Court rules
The Colorado Supreme Court decided on Monday that car rental companies offering insurance policies are not also “insurers” under state law, who may be sued for their failure to pay out benefits on claims. By 4-3, the justices further concluded that Hertz Corp. was not a “de facto” insurer simply because it was heavily involved…
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Lifetime sex offender registration not ‘punishment,’ Colorado justices say
The Colorado Supreme Court concluded on Monday that lifetime sex offender registration is not cruel and unusual punishment because it is not “punishment.” At the same time, two members urged lawmakers to heed the advice of the Sex Offender Management Board and adopt a new, more accurate system of measuring a person’s risk of recidivism.…
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Colorado Supreme Court oral arguments, chief appeals judge to retire | COURT CRAWL
Welcome to Court Crawl, Colorado Politics’ roundup of news from the third branch of government. The state Supreme Court held oral arguments in multiple cases and traveled to the Eastern Plains to visit with students, plus the chief judge of the Court of Appeals is retiring. Supreme Court news • The Colorado Supreme Court decided a…
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Appeals court reverses conviction after judge blocked questioning about witness’s criminal charges
An Arapahoe County judge violated a defendant’s constitutional right to confront the witnesses against him by blocking the defense from asking a witness about her own pending criminal charges in the same jurisdiction, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled last week. Prosecutors charged Jose Garcia Valdivia with multiple counts of assault and felony menacing. Garcia allegedly got…
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Divided appeals court reverses assault conviction over insufficient guidance about paramedics’ authority
Colorado’s second-highest court reversed a defendant’s conviction last week for assaulting a paramedic, concluding that a Denver judge needed to give jurors additional information about the duties that paramedics are legally authorized to carry out. Two paramedics were attempting to take Chakib E. Ez-Zahir to a hospital against his will. After one paramedic blocked his…
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Appeals court upholds convictions despite juror’s dishonesty about criminal history
Colorado’s second-highest court declined to order a new trial last week for a Boulder County defendant, despite a juror’s concealment of his own prior conviction until after the verdict. A jury found Kasey James Arrington guilty of kidnapping and sex-related offenses in 2022. Afterward, the defense alleged that multiple jurors had responded untruthfully during jury…
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Colorado justices skeptical of snowboarder’s bid to revive injury lawsuit after signing new waiver
The Colorado Supreme Court seemed to agree on Thursday that a plaintiff is not entitled to continue his snowboarding injury lawsuit because he purchased another pass in the middle of litigation that released all past legal claims. “It says you’re releasing anything which has happened up to now. It seems pretty plain language what it…
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Colorado Supreme Court appears OK with revised ‘reasonable doubt’ instruction
The Colorado Supreme Court appeared largely comfortable on Thursday with the recently revised definition of “reasonable doubt” that is now part of the template jury instructions for criminal cases. To date, multiple Court of Appeals decisions have endorsed the constitutionality of the new phrasing, which resembles the instruction given in Colorado’s federal trial court. U.S.…
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Colorado Supreme Court concerned about police overreach in interrogations
Some members of the Colorado Supreme Court appeared hesitant on Tuesday to endorse the ability of police to interrogate a suspect after they have obtained a court order authorizing only the collection of physical evidence. Under Colorado’s criminal rules, law enforcement may obtain an order for “nontestimonial identification,” allowing them to pursue a person’s fingerprints, blood specimen,…