judge christina gomez
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Colorado justices consider scenario where civil defendants turn around and sue plaintiffs
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Members of the Colorado Supreme Court considered on Wednesday how easily defendants who win their civil lawsuits should be able to turn around and sue the plaintiffs for allegedly entangling them in baseless litigation. A person may sue for malicious prosecution when someone knowingly initiates a criminal or civil legal proceeding that lacks merit and…
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HOAs subject to increased liability for guests’ injuries in common areas, appeals court rules
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Colorado’s second-highest court ruled for the first time on Thursday that guests of homeowners who are injured in the common areas of homeowner associations only need to satisfy a relatively low hurdle to sue the HOA. Under Colorado law, someone who is injured on another’s property will have a harder or easier time holding the…
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Appeals court orders new child abuse trial after defense lawyer overrode client, admitted guilt
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A man serving 28 years for child abuse will receive a new trial, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday, because the defense attorney overrode his client’s wishes and told the jury the defendant was guilty in the overdose death of his son. After a mistrial, a second trial resulted in jurors convicting Joenny Manuel Astacio…
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Appeals court clarifies path for claiming lawyer was constitutionally ineffective in contempt proceedings
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday clarified that people who are held in contempt of court do have a way to challenge their convictions based on their lawyer’s allegedly ineffective assistance. The U.S. Supreme Court has long recognized that a convicted defendant may argue their constitutional rights were violated because their attorney’s performance was objectively unreasonable in a…
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Appeals court interprets ambiguous phrase in Colorado’s criminal records sealing law
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Colorado’s second-highest court last month interpreted for the first time an ambiguous phrase in a 2019 law, and concluded a man convicted two decades ago for securities fraud was not entitled to have his criminal records sealed. Lawmakers enacted House Bill 1275 nearly five years ago to increase the availability of records-sealing for people convicted of less serious…
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2 appeals judges warn of diverging interpretations to Colorado’s free speech protection law
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Two members of Colorado’s second-highest court warned in separate cases on Thursday that they believe judges are drifting away from the legislature’s directive for evaluating whether defamation lawsuits should be dismissed under a 2019 law designed to protect free speech. More than two years ago, Judges Ted C. Tow III and Michael H. Berger were…
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Defamation suit may proceed against conservative radio outlet, talk show host: appeals court
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A former executive of Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems may proceed with his defamation lawsuit against the owner of a conservative talk radio station and one of its hosts, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday. The latest in a string of recent decisions favoring plaintiff Eric Coomer, a three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals concluded Coomer…
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Colorado Supreme Court takes up 6 cases on involuntary intoxication, malicious prosecution, child neglect trials
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The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday it will hear appeals in six cases, including the question of whether a person can claim he knowingly ingested one substance that was secretly laced with another behavior-altering substance as a defense to criminal charges. At least three of the court’s seven members must agree to grant an…
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Appeals court rules Colorado free speech law applies in eviction cases, urges legislature to reconsider
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Colorado’s second-highest court ruled for the first time last week that a 2019 law intended to protect First Amendment activity from litigation does apply to eviction proceedings and to claims across the board, not simply to defamation lawsuits. However, in an unusual move, a three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals explicitly called on lawmakers…