jerry jones
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Appeals court says Denver judge forced man to choose between right to attorney, speedy trial
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Colorado’s second-highest court last week reversed a man’s convictions after finding a Denver judge forced him to choose between postponing his jury trial if he wanted a lawyer or continuing to trial as scheduled, but with no attorney. Aurelio DeSantiago opted to represent himself and a jury convicted him of multiple assault charges. He received…
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Appeals court orders new trial after Arapahoe County judge failed to instruct jury on self-defense
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A man serving 16 years for assault and attempted manslaughter will receive a new trial after Colorado’s second-highest court determined an Arapahoe County judge failed to give jurors a required instruction about self-defense. The law entitles a defendant to such an instruction when there is some credible evidence they acted in self-defense. District Court Judge…
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Appeals court overturns Rio Blanco County convictions after judge’s wrongful order
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Although prosecutors in Rio Blanco County eventually secured convictions after bringing a man to trial three times, the state’s Court of Appeals has now wiped away the verdict because of a judge’s erroneous decision to declare a mistrial during the first set of proceedings. On appeal, defendant Edwin Richard Gereaux alleged a range of errors…
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State Supreme Court to hear case implicating constitutionality of ‘red flag’ law
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The Colorado Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal that questions whether the House of Representatives violated the state constitution in enacting a landmark gun safety law, even though the lawsuit omits several key factual details about what actually unfolded on the floor of the legislature. On Monday, the court announced it will re-examine…
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Divided appeals court reinstates criminal charges after judge failed to order witnesses’ arrest
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In a divided ruling last week, Colorado’s second-highest court decided an El Paso County judge wrongly dismissed a criminal case when she should have instead issued warrants to arrest the witnesses who failed to appear. Given the circumstances in March 2021, which included COVID-19 restrictions on jury trials and the prosecution’s lack of evidence, then-District…
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Divided appeals court finds man’s 5-year sentence reasonable for now-misdemeanor crime
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Colorado’s second-highest court last week upheld the 62-month prison sentence of a man who escaped to Arizona while on parole in 2018, even though the offense would now result in a maximum of 120 days in jail. By a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals found Jonathan Scott Story was not…
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Appeals court reverses another Adams County conviction for judge’s faulty analogy
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The state’s Court of Appeals has reversed another criminal conviction in Adams County because the trial judge attempted to illustrate the concept of reasonable doubt to jurors in a manner the Colorado Supreme Court has since deemed problematic. Jurors convicted Brett Thomas Little in 2019 on one count of criminal mischief after he allegedly broke…
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State Supreme Court wades into intra-judicial conflict over rights of employees
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Colorado’s Supreme Court is being asked to decide whether judges have the power to review personnel decisions involving judicial employees, a rare case in which different parts of the judicial branch are arguing for opposite interpretations of existing rules. During oral arguments on Wednesday, the state’s justices heard that judicial employees are legally different from…
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Judicial branch acknowledges ‘adjustment’ after confusion over judge’s authority
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The state’s Judicial Department acknowledged making modifications in the wake of confusion from litigants and from the Court of Appeals, owing to one chief judge’s decision to designate a judicial officer in southern Colorado as an “acting district judge.” Third Judicial District Chief Judge Leslie J. Gerbracht began assigning Dawn Mann to act as a…
