Judge Eric Johnson
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Colorado justices consider whether Denver police failed to respect suspect’s right to counsel
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Members of the Colorado Supreme Court considered on Thursday whether Denver detectives improperly restarted their interrogation of a murder suspect who had clearly invoked his constitutional right to an attorney. The district attorney’s office characterized the circumstances as “peculiar.” When police initially brought in Dakotah Lulei for questioning, he was not under arrest. After receiving…
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Appeals court calls out Denver judge for illogical denial of sentence reduction
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A Denver judge wrongly rejected a convicted defendant’s request for a sentence reduction because his stated reasons for denying the motion could not possibly have been true, Colorado’s second-highest court concluded on Thursday. Jurors convicted Brent M. Kelley in 2018 of second-degree murder and a drug offense. He received a 47-year prison sentence. After appealing…
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Appeals court tosses man’s convictions after Denver judge relied on expired pandemic-era law to violate speedy trial deadline
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A Denver judge mistakenly used an expired provision of state law to extend a defendant’s speedy trial deadline, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday in overturning the man’s convictions and 34-years-to-life prison sentence. As part of the constitutional guarantee of a speedy trial, Colorado law generally requires the government to bring a defendant to trial…
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Denver judge exceeded his authority in ‘several ways’ in juvenile defendant’s case, state Supreme Court says
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‘While the trial court has significant discretion regarding the presentation of evidence and the application of the rules of evidence, there are limits,’ wrote the justices
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Colorado justices raise eyebrows at Denver judge’s restrictions on juvenile defendant
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Members of the Colorado Supreme Court appeared unnerved on Wednesday at the restrictions a Denver judge placed on a teenage defendant’s attempt to argue that he should be tried as a juvenile, not as an adult. Lawyers for Clayshjon Eugene Clark-Collins sought the Supreme Court’s intervention after his trial judge indicated he largely did not want…
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‘Deceivingly complicated’: Appeals judges talk to lawyers about postconviction cases
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Members of Colorado’s second-highest court told lawyers and judges on Thursday what they are looking for when a convicted defendant argues they are entitled to relief for reasons beyond the typical array of trial-related errors. In contrast to direct appeals of criminal convictions, which usually allege errors before trial, at trial or at sentencing, defendants…
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Colorado Supreme Court may address Denver juvenile prosecution, one man’s deluge of cases
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The Colorado Supreme Court signaled last month that it may intervene in an ongoing criminal case against a defendant seeking to be tried as a juvenile, and potentially stop a man from continuing to sue the same group of people after a steady stream of judges has disposed of his claims. In the first case…
