drunk driving
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Federal judge refuses to dismiss suit against Fort Collins over ex-officer’s meritless DUI arrests
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A federal judge last month agreed a man wrongly charged with drunk driving could sue the city of Fort Collins for failing to appropriately supervise one officer as he repeatedly arrested motorists who were not intoxicated. Jesse Cunningham is one of several arrestees who filed suit over their encounters with Jason Haferman, the former “DUI…
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Colorado justices weigh DUI suspects’ right to refuse blood draw
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The Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures means law enforcement must obtain a warrant or else rely on a specific exception to the warrant requirement, like the consent of the person being searched, to investigate a crime. But can Colorado law provide blanket consent for police to draw the blood of alleged drunk…
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Colorado justices consider how changes in law should benefit defendants on appeal
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When the Colorado Supreme Court decided in late 2020 that defendants charged with felony drunk driving offenses were being tried and convicted contrary to the law’s design, it resulted in the reversal of many DUI convictions on appeal. The government argued against overturning the conviction of one affected defendant, Charles James Crabtree, because the trial court’s…
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COVID-19 pandemic justified police not offering DUI breath tests, appeals court rules
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday agreed that a police department’s decision not to offer suspected drunk drivers the choice of a breath test at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic did not violate state law. Although it was not the first Court of Appeals ruling to address the issue, it was the first to set…
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Colorado justices weigh drunk driving suspects’ ability to change mind, consent to blood test
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The Colorado Supreme Court considered on Wednesday whether an Arapahoe County judge improperly permitted prosecutors to share a misleading account of a drunk driving suspect’s arrest – making jurors believe Glen Gary Montoya categorically refused a blood alcohol test when, in reality, he changed his mind and ultimately agreed to one. However, some members of the…
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Colorado Supreme Court reins in Arapahoe County judge who set early deadline for DUI test results
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An Arapahoe County judge had no authority to penalize the prosecution when the state lab did not provide blood test results in a drunk driving case as soon as he wanted it to, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday. The 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office petitioned the justices directly after County Court Judge J.…
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Colorado appeals court says officer’s claim that suspected drunk driver refused test isn’t enough
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A police officer’s claim that a suspected drunk driver refused a blood or breath test, without any additional details, was insufficient to justify a suspension of the driver’s license, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled last week. Under the state’s “express consent law,” motorists automatically give their consent to a chemical test whenever law enforcement has probable…
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Colorado Supreme Court orders 2 new trials where prosecutors presented misleading evidence
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The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed new trials were necessary in a pair of cases where judges allowed prosecutors to present a skewed narrative to jurors by omitting evidence that suggested the defendants had not committed the charged offenses. The link between Jacob Vanderpauye’s case in Boulder County and Charles Joseph McLaughlin’s in Arapahoe…
