judge ben leutwyler
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Appeals court finds no discrimination in dismissals of jurors of color across 3 cases
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Colorado’s second-highest court recently agreed prosecutors did not unconstitutionally remove jurors of color in three criminal cases for racial reasons. The Court of Appeals encountered significant variation in how the trial judges approached the prosecution’s dismissal of each juror. One judge explained the circumstances at length, one judge gave virtually no explanation and the third…
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Colorado Supreme Court upholds new trial for teen convicted of felony murder
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The Colorado Supreme Court ordered a new trial for an Aurora teenager on Monday, agreeing a defendant need not admit to committing an underlying offense to assert a defense to the more serious crime of felony murder. Felony murder is a unique offense, in which a defendant is guilty if he participates in certain crimes, such as…
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Appeals court dismisses state contractor’s defamation suit against Denver7
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Colorado’s second-highest court agreed earlier this month that a former vaccine distribution contractor for the state failed to show Denver7 should be liable for defamation through its series of stories about the company’s problems. Between 2021 and 2022, Denver7 published four articles describing employees of Jogan Health, LLC not receiving payments, false statements in Jogan…
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Appeals court upholds dismissal of Black juror for negative experiences with police
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Colorado’s second-highest court agreed earlier this month that an Arapahoe County prosecutor did not remove a Black woman from a jury because of her race, even though she had explicitly attributed her prior negative interactions with police to “the color of my skin.” Under longstanding U.S. Supreme Court precedent, intentional race-based discrimination in jury selection…
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Colorado justices weigh unique defense to murder for non-triggermen
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Some members of the Colorado Supreme Court on Wednesday signaled their agreement with the notion that a defendant need not admit to committing an underlying offense in order to assert a defense to the more serious crime of felony murder. Felony murder is a unique offense, in which a defendant is guilty if he participates in…
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Colorado Supreme Court to hear appeal claiming race-based prosecution
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The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday it will review whether a juvenile defendant who was tried and convicted of murder as an adult was entitled to have the case dismissed because the government allegedly engaged in selective, race-based prosecution. At least three of the court’s seven members must agree to take up a case…
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Colorado justices nudge legislature to take action to combat racial bias in jury selection
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In a major pair of decisions on Monday, the Colorado Supreme Court simultaneously found Arapahoe County prosecutors provided non-racial reasons for removing jurors of color from two criminal trials, but that judges failed to adequately determine whether those reasons were credible. Further, three of the seven justices, with seeming support from the other four, suggested…
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Colorado appeals court orders new trial in Centennial murder case due to judge’s error
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An Arapahoe County judge refused to issue a key jury instruction in a high-profile murder trial, which lowered the prosecution’s burden of proof and prompted Colorado’s second-highest court to overturn the defendant’s conviction last month. Lloyd Chavez IV, a student at Cherokee Trail High School, died in May 2019 after four teenagers attempted to rob…
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Arapahoe County judge let biased juror serve, prompting reversal of serial rapist’s convictions
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A man with a history of raping women, who is serving 136 years in prison, will receive a new trial after the state’s second-highest court concluded an Arapahoe County judge allowed a biased juror to serve in the 2021 trial. On Thursday, a three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals concluded, by 2-1, that it…
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Colorado Supreme Court accepts 3 cases, including on racial bias in jury selection
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The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday it will decide whether a person’s belief that racial bias exists in policing is an acceptable reason to remove them from a jury, or whether doing so violates the longstanding prohibition against race discrimination in jury selection. At least three of the court’s seven members must consent to…
