john daniel dailey
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Justices critical of proposed racial bias rule supported by defense attorneys, trial judges
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Colorado’s Supreme Court justices gave a less-than-enthusiastic reception on Tuesday to a proposed rule that, if enacted, would aim to curb lawyers’ ability to remove people of color from criminal juries for reasons related to race. During a nearly three-hour hearing, prosecutors from across the state uniformly lined up to condemn the suggested change, with…
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Colorado Supreme Court accepts 2 cases on capital punishment, racially-biased juror
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The Colorado Supreme Court agreed to hear two criminal appeals on Monday that question whether defendants are entitled to bail for crimes that formerly qualified for a death sentence, and whether a Black man convicted in an overwhelmingly white county deserves a new trial because one juror admitted he “didn’t want diversity.” At least three…
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Appeals court finds Garfield County judge wrongly imposed contempt sanction on mother
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Colorado’s second-highest court has found a Garfield County judge was wrong to impose a $50 fine on a mother for failing to follow a court order and arrange summer tutoring for her daughter. Judges may hold someone in contempt for disobeying an order, with two types of sanctions available. A punitive sanction, according to the…
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Appeals court finds Logan County judge withheld documents from defense
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Colorado’s second-highest court decided last week a Logan County judge withheld government documents that he should have provided to lawyers for a juvenile defendant who stood trial for unlawful sexual contact. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals declined to overturn the defendant’s conviction outright but endorsed holding a new trial if the defense…
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Appeals court finds Pueblo judge had no authority to make defendant pay for dismissed case
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The state’s Court of Appeals has reversed the $67 charge a Pueblo County judge imposed on a criminal defendant, even though prosecutors had dismissed the case against him. A three-judge panel for the appellate court agreed state law did not allow District Court Judge Thomas Flesher to order such payment from Benjamin Franklin Sanchez, even if…
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Divided appeals court finds woman convicted of murder not subject to Miranda rights violation
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By 2-1, Colorado’s second-highest court last week decided police in Moffat County were not required to read a woman her Miranda rights in the two hours they supervised her, kept her in an interrogation room, bound her hands to preserve evidence and watched her make incriminating statements. Law enforcement are required to provide a Miranda…
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Appeals court upholds dismissal of gun group’s lawsuit against Larimer sheriff
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Colorado’s Court of Appeals has agreed a dispute in Larimer County over the adequacy of a gun group’s concealed carry training appears to have resolved itself, and the lawsuit against Sheriff Justin Smith must be dismissed. Guns For Everyone, based in Jefferson County, offers safety classes for people seeking concealed handgun permits. Certificates from such…
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Appeals court pushes back against racial bias in jury selection
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Colorado’s second-highest court laid down new rules on Thursday to discourage the exclusion of people of color from juries for reasons that, while not explicitly racial, are nevertheless correlated with race. Two separate panels of the state’s Court of Appeals issued rulings that, in part, forbid the dismissal of Black jurors solely because they reveal…
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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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Appeals court overturns Denver murder conviction due to prosecutor’s misconduct
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Although a single improper statement by a prosecutor during trial will rarely lead to the reversal of a defendant’s convictions, Colorado’s second-highest court last week decided such an extraordinary consequence was necessary – overturning a man’s second-degree murder conviction and 48-year prison sentence. A jury convicted Cain Wilkens in 2018 of murdering his wife, Clarissa…
