judge katharine lum
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Colorado equal pay law does not require plaintiffs to allege gender-based retaliation, appeals court finds
The 2019 Colorado law aimed at rooting out pay discrimination on the basis of sex does not require a plaintiff to allege their employer retaliated against them for sex- or gender-related reasons, the state’s second-highest court decided on Thursday. Lawmakers enacted the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act with a stated intent to “close the…
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Arapahoe County murder prosecution botched a second time as appeals court reverses for same mistake
Colorado’s second-highest court reversed a man’s felony murder conviction for the second time on Thursday after an Arapahoe County prosecutor made the same mistake that triggered reversal of the defendant’s first conviction years earlier. Although David Alberto Garcia was not the person who shot Eduardo Hernandez-Zuniga in an Aurora motel room, a jury convicted him…
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Colorado Supreme Court to decide whether out-of-state defendant may be prosecuted for in-state crime
The Colorado Supreme Court recently announced that it will decide whether Douglas County prosecutors had grounds to pursue criminal charges against a woman in New York whose conduct occurred outside of Colorado. Erin Brennan and her children lived in New York, and her ex-husband moved to Colorado after their divorce. In 2022, she proposed a…
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Colorado justices accept appeals on Netflix taxation, children pursuing neglect cases
The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will decide whether Netflix subscriptions are subject to the state’s sales tax as “tangible personal property.” At least three of the court’s seven members must agree to hear an appeal. The justices also accepted cases that question whether a minor’s legal representative can pursue an appeal…
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GoFundMe donations for victim do not lessen defendant’s restitution obligation, appeals court rules
Donations made to a victim’s crowdfunding page do not necessarily reduce the defendant’s obligation to pay crime victim restitution, Colorado’s second-highest court concluded on Thursday. Under state law, crime victim compensation boards reimburse victims for certain monetary losses, including funeral costs, medical expenditures, and property damage. Prosecutors may, in turn, seek restitution payments from the…
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Appeals judge asks Colorado Supreme Court to once again clarify magistrate rules
A member of Colorado’s second-highest court urged the state Supreme Court last week to revise confusing language in the rules governing magistrates, less than two weeks after an attempted cleanup of the rules took effect. Magistrates are judicial employees who are not judges but who handle aspects of cases in the trial courts. Litigants may consent…
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In rare move, evenly divided Colorado Supreme Court issues no opinion on child welfare case
The Colorado Supreme Court, in an extraordinary move, could not reach agreement on Monday about whether a child’s legal representative has the authority to file a motion to terminate parental rights in a child welfare proceeding. The 3-3 vote was a product of Justice Melissa Hart’s announced departure from the court in mid-December. She cited…
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Appeals judge believes children’s representatives may challenge certain parental rights decisions
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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Appeals court rules Denver officer, city may be sued for collision with scooter
Colorado’s second-highest court concluded last month that a Denver police officer and the city itself were not immune from the negligence lawsuit of a scooter rider injured after the officer ran a red light. Jordon Reynolds was riding a scooter on N. Holly Street late one night in October 2023 just as Officer Emmett Hurd…
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Appeals court addresses defendant’s request to get property back 3 years after Supreme Court laid out process
Almost three years after the Colorado Supreme Court clarified how a convicted defendant may ask law enforcement to hand over his seized property, the state’s second-highest court found an El Paso County judge wrongly denied the man’s request to return certain items. Jurors convicted James Woo in 2018 for the murder of Julie Tureson in Colorado…