judge jerry jones
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Colorado Supreme Court tiptoes around prior edict forbidding prison plus probation
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Five years ago, the Colorado Supreme Court interpreted state law to prohibit judges from imposing a sentence of prison plus probation in a single criminal case. But on Wednesday, the justices appeared to endorse the idea that judges could resentence affected defendants in a fashion that preserves the same — illegal — punishment. In its 2019 decision…
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Colorado Supreme Court committee advances election-related change, goes back to work on magistrate rules
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The Colorado Supreme Court’s civil rules committee approved a procedural change on Friday for court challenges to presidential electors, a move that complies with legislation passed this year. The committee also heard from the Supreme Court that it must perform further work on proposed changes to the rules governing magistrates, after the justices heard criticism…
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Colorado Supreme Court weighs effort to streamline magistrate rules, aid litigants
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Members of the Colorado Supreme Court took comments on Tuesday about proposed changes to the rules governing magistrates, where they heard that the attempt to streamline protocols still presents challenges for litigants and for the trial judges who review magistrate decisions. Magistrates are judicial employees who are not judges but who handle aspects of cases in the trial…
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Divided appeals court strikes down campaign disclosure requirement in Colorado law
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday concluded the state’s requirement that ballot issue advocacy groups disclose the name of their legal representative on their election communications violates the First Amendment. By 2-1, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals believed there was no material benefit to the public from knowing who the registered agents are…
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Colorado justices agree ‘nature of relationship’ with minor relatives governs sex offender restrictions
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The Colorado Supreme Court decided on Monday that a person on sex offender probation does not have his constitutional rights violated anytime his contact is restricted with minor relatives who are not his children. Instead, the Supreme Court decided such relationships fall on a “spectrum of protection,” with parent-child relationships requiring the greatest degree of…
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Appeals court splits with itself on statewide noise limits, sets up Supreme Court intervention
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday set the stage for Supreme Court intervention by finding local governments cannot authorize concerts on private, for-profit land to exceed noise limits under state law — three months after another set of appellate judges reached the opposite conclusion. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals concluded the state’s Noise Abatement Act…
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Divided appeals court upholds $111,600 restitution order in Denver murder case
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Colorado’s second-highest court last week upheld a Denver judge’s crime victim restitution order as valid, but with continued disagreement over how to apply the Supreme Court’s recent guidance about the state’s restitution law. In Colorado, when a convicted defendant is required to pay financial restitution, prosecutors typically must provide the requested amount by the time…
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Ethics, family law and AI: Colorado’s justices, judges speak about appellate do’s and don’ts
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During a pair of events earlier this month, one for young lawyers and one for appellate attorneys more broadly, several of Colorado’s judges and justices provided commentary on subjects ranging from professionalism and artificial intelligence to key developments within the judiciary. Chief Justice Brian D. Boatright also disclosed he will swear in Justice Monica M. Márquez on July…
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Appeals court rules unanswered phone calls may qualify as stalking
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Colorado’s second-highest court clarified for the first time on Thursday that repeated phone calls, even if they are unanswered, are “contacts” for which defendants may be convicted under the state’s stalking law. Roy Matthew Miller is serving a 21.5-year prison sentence for various acts of domestic violence. His stalking conviction came after jurors heard Miller…
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Appeals court rules juries may have unrestricted access to ‘pretext’ calls between sex assault victims, suspects
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday ruled that trial judges may provide juries with unrestricted access during their deliberations to “pretext” phone calls made by sex assault victims to their alleged perpetrators with a goal of eliciting incriminating statements. The Court of Appeals had never before decided whether pretext calls should be treated like a defendant’s…