jefferson county
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Jefferson County Sheriff partners with Rep. Duran for bill on street racing
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office partnered with House Majority Leader Monica Duran to support new legislation to “crack down” on street racing in the state. The bill will be introduced in the 2026 legislative session of the Colorado General Assembly and will look create stronger penalties regarding illegal street racing, stunt driving and street takeovers,…
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Evergreen High School victim confronted shooter, then warned others, family says
When the Evergreen High School shooter began firing and reloading a revolver, one of the two victims he critically wounded confronted the suspect, according to the victim’s family. That bought time for others to escape, the family said, adding even after he was critically wounded, he ran to warn others. “On Sept. 10, inside Evergreen…
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Appeals court finds Wheat Ridge officer lacked probable cause to arrest defendant
Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday concluded a Wheat Ridge officer lacked probable cause to arrest a man because the information suggesting criminal activity was too minimal to act upon. Corporal Jeremy Schmitz was patrolling a truck stop off of Interstate 70 when he encountered a Toyota 4Runner that a database identified as stolen. The vehicle…
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Evergreen High School students return to school uplifted by community
Evergreen High School students returned to campus on Thursday morning, two weeks after a shooting shocked the small town. Parents stood on the sideline, holding signs of support. More than 100 posters from Colorado cities, spanning from Telluride to Steamboat Springs, lined the school’s halls, sharing condolences and words of encouragement. “It was difficult, for…
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Appeals court ‘reluctantly’ sides with Jeffco DA in disapproving judge’s self-defense ruling
Colorado’s second-highest court, by 2-1, agreed last week that a Jefferson County judge should not have let jurors consider whether a defendant acted in self-defense at a trial that resulted in his acquittal for menacing a police officer. However, members of the three-judge Court of Appeals panel criticized District Attorney Alexis King’s office for bringing…
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Divided Colorado Supreme Court says defendants liable for possessing others’ debit cards even if unusable
The Colorado Supreme Court, by 5-2, rejected the idea on Monday that prosecutors need to prove a debit card is functional in order to convict a defendant of unlawfully possessing someone else’s “financial device.” The majority believed Colorado law was straightforward: Legislators outlawed the unauthorized possession of a financial device, and debit cards were specifically…
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Colorado Supreme Court finds Lakewood unconstitutionally expanded phone provider tax
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that Lakewood improperly expanded the scope of a 1969 tax ordinance twice to encompass cell phone providers without holding the popular vote the state constitution requires. A Jefferson County judge previously determined the city’s actions failed to comply with the 1992 Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, which generally requires…
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Colorado justices may address whether defendants have right to review evidence when challenging convictions
The Colorado Supreme Court signaled on Tuesday that it may decide whether defendants challenging their criminal convictions due to ineffective assistance of counsel are entitled to the evidence the prosecution already handed over before trial. An attorney representing Keevin Bell II years after his Jefferson County murder conviction was unable to obtain all the evidence…
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Federal judge dismisses challenge to Jeffco overnight field trip policy’s reliance on gender identity
A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a constitutional challenge to the overnight field trip policy of Jeffco Public Schools, filed by multiple families who objected to rooming assignments based on students’ gender identities as opposed to their sex assigned at birth. U.S. District Court Judge Regina M. Rodriguez concluded the 14th Amendment’s protection of a…
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Defendant’s ‘train wreck’ of a statement prompts appeals court to order new trial
Colorado’s second-highest court ordered a new trial on Thursday for a defendant whose 16-minute statement mid-trial, which had no basis in criminal procedure and was described by one judge as a “train wreck,” resulted in a constitutionally unfair proceeding. Jefferson County prosecutors charged Riddick Amoako-Asiamah with large-scale marijuana cultivation or distribution based on the substantial amount…