fifth amendment
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Appeals court finds district attorney violated defendant’s rights with comments
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A prosecutor in Morgan County crossed the line by implying a defendant was guilty because he chose to exercise his constitutional right to stay silent, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled last week. The Fifth Amendment protects a criminal defendant’s right against self-incrimination, and it is part of the Miranda warning a suspect receives in custody. The…
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Fractured Supreme Court finds Adams County defendant did not invoke right to counsel in custody
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In an unusual decision on Tuesday, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled 5-2 that a criminal defendant did not clearly invoke his constitutional right to an attorney during a police interrogation, even though a majority of the justices actually believed the opposite was true. The appeal out of Adams County boiled down to a single moment…
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Justices say Adams County prosecutor’s comments do not require reversal of convictions
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Although the Colorado Supreme Court has established that prosecutors cannot imply criminal defendants are guilty for exercising their Fifth Amendment right to silence or their Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial, the justices on Tuesday decided an Adams County prosecutor’s comments to a jury did not cross that threshold. In a case that centered…
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Appeals court overturns Jeffco murder conviction after interrogators failed to clarify Miranda rights
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A man who shot his victim multiple times allegedly based on hallucinations will receive a new trial because the state’s second-highest court found Jefferson County law enforcement misled him about the constitutional right to an attorney prior to his confession. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals reviewed the video from Erik Jamal Newton’s…
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Appeals court orders new trial after detective failed to respect Eagle County man’s Miranda rights
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An Eagle County judge mistakenly allowed a man’s statements in custody to be admitted as evidence at trial, even though the detective interrogating Jacinto Zelaya-Zelaya ignored his desire to remain silent, the state’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday. Zelaya-Zelaya, who a jury convicted in 2017 of sexually assaulting a child, will now receive a new…
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Federal judge considers whether wrongful arrest in Aurora rises to constitutional violation
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Lawyers for the City of Aurora and one of its police officers on Wednesday told a federal judge that a subpar investigation may have wrongfully sent a man to jail, but there was no clear constitutional violation and no evidence of racial bias. The civil lawsuit from Darren Rucker, of Parker, features more than one…
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Colorado’s justices take on five cases, ranging from insanity defense to oil and gas
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Five more cases made it onto the Colorado Supreme Court’s docket last week, implicating the insanity defense, the right of the accused to question alternate suspects at trial, and disputes over oil and gas production. At least three of the seven members of the court must agree to hear a case in order for the…
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Jeffco prosecutor crossed line, appeals court finds in reversing sex abuse conviction
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A Jefferson County prosecutor, speaking to the jury, improperly and repeatedly used a defendant’s silence in a police-recorded phone call against him, the Court of Appeals decided last week in ordering a new trial. Although the Fifth Amendment prohibits prosecutors from drawing conclusions about a defendant’s guilt if he exercises his right to remain silent,…
