judge michael berger
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Appeals judge decries inability for defendant to challenge his ‘three-strikes’ sentence
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A member of Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday registered his discomfort with a defendant’s inability to challenge his lengthy prison sentence that was a product of the state’s “three strikes” law. Obdulio Arvelo is serving 48 years in prison for a 2011 theft-related conviction. The sentence resulted from Arvelo’s designation as a “habitual criminal,” meaning…
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Appeals court once again denies immunity to Olathe officer for deadly crash
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Exactly one year after the Colorado Supreme Court found the state’s second-highest court applied the incorrect standard when evaluating a deadly crash involving an Olathe police officer, the Court of Appeals once again determined the officer and the town are not immune from being sued. The Colorado Governmental Immunity Act generally shields government entities and public…
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Appeals court dismisses state contractor’s defamation suit against Denver7
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Colorado’s second-highest court agreed earlier this month that a former vaccine distribution contractor for the state failed to show Denver7 should be liable for defamation through its series of stories about the company’s problems. Between 2021 and 2022, Denver7 published four articles describing employees of Jogan Health, LLC not receiving payments, false statements in Jogan…
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2 appeals judges warn of diverging interpretations to Colorado’s free speech protection law
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Two members of Colorado’s second-highest court warned in separate cases on Thursday that they believe judges are drifting away from the legislature’s directive for evaluating whether defamation lawsuits should be dismissed under a 2019 law designed to protect free speech. More than two years ago, Judges Ted C. Tow III and Michael H. Berger were…
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Appeals court upholds 2 murder convictions, rejecting complaints about jurors’ use of devices
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Colorado’s second-highest court recently upheld the murder convictions of two defendants who claimed it was inappropriate that jurors were allowed to simulate the pressure of a trigger-pull with a mechanical device and to use a calculator during deliberations. In the first case out of Denver, a jury convicted Samuel J. Robinson of second-degree murder for…
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Colorado Supreme Court takes up 6 cases on involuntary intoxication, malicious prosecution, child neglect trials
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The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday it will hear appeals in six cases, including the question of whether a person can claim he knowingly ingested one substance that was secretly laced with another behavior-altering substance as a defense to criminal charges. At least three of the court’s seven members must agree to grant an…
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Appeals court rules witnesses cannot be sued for false grand jury testimony
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Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday that witnesses who testify before grand juries may not be sued for making false statements. However, a three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals clarified that witnesses are not immune for bad-faith reports to law enforcement prior to their testimony. Although the July 11 decision was the first time…
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Colorado justices overrule appeals court’s incorrect standard for mid-case appeals
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The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday overruled a 7-year-old decision of the state’s second-highest court after a plaintiff, the defendants and even one of the judges who participated in the decision called it incorrect. Typically, appellate courts can only review final judgments that address all of the claims in a civil case. However, Colorado’s procedural…
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Colorado justices, 4-3, uphold Denver jury’s $9.2 million award for botched surgery
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The Colorado Supreme Court, in a divided ruling on Monday, left in place a Denver jury’s award of more than $9.2 million to a man severely injured after his back surgery at Sky Ridge Medical Center went wrong. Although Colorado law limits damages in medical malpractice cases to $1 million, it is possible for a judge…
