judge elizabeth harris
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Colorado appeals court says in-person doctor exam not required for workers’ comp cases
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Physicians are allowed to find an injured worker suffers from no permanent disability without having to examine them in person, the state’s second-highest court ruled last month. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals emphasized a doctor’s conclusion about a patient’s impairment, based solely on paperwork, is “not the preferred way” to do things.…
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Rio Blanco County sheriff’s officials can be held liable for jail suicide, appeals court rules
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The immunity that Colorado law broadly affords to government entities does not shield employees of the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office from being sued for the death of a jail detainee, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday. On her third day in the county jail, Catherine Rowell died by suicide. Sheriff’s personnel allegedly failed to…
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Delta County judge let biased juror serve, appeals court finds in reversing convictions
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A Delta County judge allowed a biased juror to serve in a woman’s drunk driving trial, the state’s Court of Appeals concluded last week in reversing the defendant’s convictions. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals noted the juror, identified as S.B., volunteered during jury selection that she would assume Katherine Susan Griswold was…
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Appeals court sides with Weld County judge who dismissed criminal case for speedy trial violation
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Colorado’s second-highest court last week sided against Weld County prosecutors and agreed a trial judge correctly determined the consequence of his failure to declare a COVID-19-related mistrial was to dismiss the criminal charges against a defendant. The federal and state constitutions guarantee defendants the right to a speedy trial. In Colorado, that means the government…
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Denver jury should not have heard about defendant’s prior assaults of wife, appeals court rules
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A man convicted of beating his wife will receive a new trial after the state’s second-highest court determined a Denver judge mistakenly allowed jurors to hear about two previous instances of the defendant beating his wife. Under Colorado’s procedural rules, prosecutors cannot use evidence of a defendant’s other, uncharged misconduct to show that the person…
