judge dennis graham
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Appeals judge believes children’s representatives may challenge certain parental rights decisions
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A member of Colorado’s second-highest court argued on Wednesday that, despite a recent state Supreme Court ruling prohibiting anyone other than the government from pursuing child-welfare cases, a child’s legal representative may still appeal certain decisions. By 2-1, a three-judge Court of Appeals panel decided it could not review a trial judge’s decision out of…
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Divided appeals court nullifies defendant’s $37,000 restitution obligation due to faulty order
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Colorado’s second-highest court concluded on Thursday that a defendant has no obligation to pay nearly $37,000 in crime victim restitution due to a faulty order that even the trial judge acknowledged was contrary to the law. In Colorado, as part of sentencing, judges must consider whether defendants owe financial restitution to their victims. If so,…
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Appeals court rejects allegations of racial discrimination in jury selection in 2 cases
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Colorado’s second-highest court ruled last month that prosecutors in two cases did not engage in intentional racial discrimination when they dismissed two women of color from the jury pool. Under longstanding U.S. Supreme Court precedent, purposeful race-based discrimination in jury selection is unconstitutional. Normally, parties may exercise “peremptory strikes” of jurors without citing a reason.…
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Englewood police should return defendant’s $160.15 in cash, appeals court says
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Colorado’s second-highest court agreed last month that Englewood police need to give a defendant back the $160 in cash they seized at the time of his 2004 arrest, and a trial judge must evaluate whether other personal items should also be returned to Gabriel Esparza. An Arapahoe County jury convicted Esparza in 2005 of killing his wife,…
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Appeals court upholds restrictions on court access for man who threatened 2 judges
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Colorado second-highest court agreed last month that the restrictions imposed upon a man who harassed multiple Western Slope judges did not unconstitutionally infringe upon his right to access the courts. As part of his probationary terms for the offense of retaliating against a judge, Brett Andrew Nelson was required to obtain a court’s permission before…
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Boulder County oil, gas leases not terminated after temporary maintenance pause, Supreme Court says
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The Colorado Supreme Court walked back a ruling by the state’s second-highest court on Monday, holding that a pair of oil and gas leases in Boulder County did not terminate simply because the pipeline operator halted production for four months to make repairs. The justices’ ruling had implications for extraction operations throughout the state, with…
