evidence
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Crime victim cannot sue over sheriff’s mishandling of evidence, appeals court rules
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A crime victim cannot claim the Huerfano County Sheriff’s Office violated his constitutional rights when it failed to process key evidence and compromised his assailant’s prosecution, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday. In a case that seemed to be the first of its kind, Brian Puerta attempted to sue Sheriff Bruce Newman and three of…
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Adams County judge properly dismissed charge after prosecutors failed to disclose evidence, appeals court says
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Because Adams County prosecutors disclosed key evidence in a criminal case only four days before trial – and 11 months after the evidence first became available – a judge acted within his authority by dismissing one of the charges against the defendant, the Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday. James Andrew Petrie stands accused of three drug-related…
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Colorado Supreme Court reviews 3 cases, including prosecutor’s office plagued by misconduct
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The Colorado Supreme Court has signaled it may intervene in three ongoing criminal cases, including one where the district attorney’s office chronically fails to turn over evidence to defendants – a practice that violates procedural rules and has angered trial judges in central Colorado. In the past few weeks, the Supreme Court has ordered parties to…
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Colorado lawyers sympathetic toward Kato Crews’ botched answer at confirmation hearing
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After U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews drew a blank at his confirmation hearing when asked to describe the holding of a major U.S. Supreme Court decision, the embarrassing lapse quickly generated condemnation online. “ANOTHER Biden judicial nominee flunks basic legal quiz,” tweeted JCN, an advocacy group for conservative judicial nominees. But in Colorado, the…
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Appeals judge to law enforcement: Be wary of repeated failures to retain evidence
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A judge on the state’s Court of Appeals has sent a stern warning to law enforcement following a series of missteps in Boulder County that resulted in a failure to retain or turn over evidence. Judge Lino S. Lipinsky de Orlov on Thursday authored a concurrence upholding William Robert Eason’s 2021 criminal conviction and finding…
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State Supreme Court accepts cases on Indian child protections, redacted video tape
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The Colorado Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases that implicate federal protections for the children of tribal nations and the ability of suspects to potentially make up self-serving statements to use for their benefit at trial. The latest announcements from the state’s highest court continue a recent trend of granting appeals involving the…
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State Supreme Court adopts new accountability standard for prosecutors
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The Colorado Supreme Court has clarified the circumstances under which prosecutors may face professional sanctions for failing to disclose information that they know, or should know, would cast doubt on the guilt of the criminally accused. The rule change also quietly reversed the high court’s two-decade-old precedent requiring disclosure to defendants only when evidence is…
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Justices uneasy over disclosure deal between Colorado prosecutors, defense attorneys
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A group of prosecutors and defense attorneys recently reached an accord over the responsibility of district attorneys to provide timely information favorable to criminal defendants or face professional sanctions. But members of the Colorado Supreme Court, at a hearing this week on the proposed rule change, expressed doubts about the new standard for holding prosecutors…
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In marijuana case, state Supreme Court weighs appeal procedures
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A case that began when two Denver police officers smelled marijuana in a parked car has morphed into a question about the kinds of arguments criminal defendants are allowed to make to the Colorado Supreme Court when prosecutors challenge a trial court’s ruling. The Supreme Court’s decision will implicate how broadly or narrowly defendants can…
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Appeals court slams failure to document custody of drug evidence in Colorado Springs case
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A man will receive a new trial after the state’s second-highest court ruled that prosecutors failed to show Colorado Springs police continuously kept track of a bag of white powder, with one officer acknowledging he retrieved it from the ground and never saw it again until trial. Three judges on a panel of the Court…
