judge lino lipinsky
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SCOTUS gun rights decision does not affect man’s firearm conviction, appeals court rules
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Colorado’s second-highest court declined to consider last week whether a man was convicted of a firearm offense under an unconstitutional law, noting the Colorado Supreme Court recently confirmed that changes in legal interpretation do not affect certain cases on appeal. A Pueblo County jury convicted Thomas Gene Rael in spring 2022 of being a prior…
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Colorado justices cautious of letting litigants make open records requests while suing governments
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Members of the Colorado Supreme Court grappled on Tuesday with two competing principles: honoring public access to government records, on the one hand, while preventing litigants from deluging public bodies with open records requests at the same time they are suing them. Previously, the state’s second-highest court ruled that plaintiffs are not forbidden from using…
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Appeals court finds numerous errors in 2 Mesa, El Paso County trials but upholds convictions
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Colorado’s second-highest court determined last week that numerous errors, including prosecutorial misconduct, pervaded a pair of criminal trials, but the missteps were not severe enough to warrant reversal of the defendants’ convictions. In El Paso County, jurors convicted Daniel Caleb Schwenk of assault and menacing, but could not reach consensus on an attempted murder charge.…
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Grand Junction employees ‘out of luck’ in challenging city’s retiree health plan, appeals court rules
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The immunity granted to government entities under state law bars a class action lawsuit against Grand Junction for the city’s alleged malfeasance in administering a health insurance program for retired employees, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday. A trial judge previously found no evidence the city denied health benefits to any eligible retiree, but also…
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Appeals court agrees Boulder County judge needed to look into attorney’s alleged unauthorized practice
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Colorado’s second-highest court agreed earlier this month that a Boulder County judge mistakenly rejected a man’s petition for postconviction relief when she should have looked into his allegation that his defense lawyer represented him despite being unauthorized to practice law. David Keith McCoy pleaded guilty in 2012 to organized crime and drug possession charges and…
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Appeals court again reminds Colorado prosecutors to submit restitution requests on time
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Wednesday once again reminded prosecutors and trial judges to pay attention to the deadlines for crime victim restitution in state law, the latest in a series of decisions cracking down on deviations from the restitution process. In Colorado, when a convicted defendant is required to pay financial restitution, prosecutors typically must…
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Appeals court finds judge did not punish man for religious beliefs when giving ex-wife parenting authority
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Colorado’s second-highest court last month rejected a man’s claim that a Larimer County judge unconstitutionally penalized him for expressing religious beliefs critical of homosexuality when she awarded parental decision-making to his ex-wife. District Court Judge Laurie K. Dean gave Brandon Ribble’s ex-wife broad decision-making responsibility for the couple’s children as a result of their divorce.…
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Late-filed appeal submitted to wrong court due to lawyers’ carelessness not OK, appeals court rules
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If an attorney files an appeal in the wrong court and does not notice until after the deadline, that is too bad, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled last month. In a precedent-setting decision, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals concluded its ability to hear a late-filed appeal due to “excusable neglect” does not extend…
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Colorado Supreme Court upholds man’s child enticement conviction
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The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday concluded the state’s second-highest court wrongly overturned a man’s Jefferson County conviction for a child sex offense, determining the evidence was sufficient after all to find him guilty. James Clayton Johnson is serving six years to life in prison after jurors convicted him of enticement. The offense requires someone to…