judge joseph whitfield
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Appeals court finds constitutional violation with man’s child sex offense
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Colorado’s second-highest court concluded on Thursday that an Arapahoe County man’s conviction for unlawful sexual contact on a child violated his constitutional rights and must be vacated. Jurors convicted Lucas Bienvenido Mena in 2021 of multiple sex offenses after hearing he pushed a 12-year-old relative into a bathroom, touched her genitals and took photos of…
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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 contempt for defendant who destroyed phone rather than hand it over to judge
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Colorado’s second-highest court agreed last week that an Arapahoe County judge properly held a criminal defendant in contempt for breaking his own cell phone to avoid handing it over to the judge as directed. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals noted that even if the judge’s attempt to seize the phone was illegal, the…
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Appeals court upholds contempt for defendant who destroyed phone rather than hand it over to judge
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Colorado’s second-highest court agreed last week that an Arapahoe County judge properly held a criminal defendant in contempt for breaking his own cell phone to avoid handing it over to the judge as directed. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals noted that even if the judge’s attempt to seize the phone was illegal, the…
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Appeals court upholds contempt for defendant who destroyed phone rather than hand it over to judge
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by
Colorado’s second-highest court agreed last week that an Arapahoe County judge properly held a criminal defendant in contempt for breaking his own cell phone to avoid handing it over to the judge as directed. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals noted that even if the judge’s attempt to seize the phone was illegal, the…
