judge rebecca freyre
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Appeals court reverses murder conviction after Denver judge violated public trial right
Colorado’s second-highest court reversed a defendant’s murder conviction on Thursday because a Denver judge violated his constitutional right to a public trial. Due to an unusually large jury pool at Edward R. Sandoval’s 2022 trial, Chief Judge Christopher J. Baumann did not allow observers to be present in his courtroom during jury selection. Although the…
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Colorado justices consider whether man can be convicted for convincing mom to lie for him
There was no dispute that Michael Thomas Hupke asked his mother to lie to his parole officer on his behalf. Further, Hupke acknowledged Mesa County prosecutors could have charged him as an accomplice to his mother’s deceit, or for soliciting her to do it. But Hupke maintained prosecutors could not do what they actually did:…
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Colorado justices weigh ‘cascade of errors’ in Arapahoe County murder trial
There was no dispute that Terrence G. Davis died by gunshot in an Aurora alleyway in 2017. At the trial of Davis’ suspected killer, jurors reached two conclusions. First, they believed he was guilty of second-degree murder for causing Davis’ death. Second, they were asked whether the defendant used a gun. No, said the jury, he…
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Appeals court finds no discrimination in dismissals of jurors of color across 3 cases
Colorado’s second-highest court recently agreed prosecutors did not unconstitutionally remove jurors of color in three criminal cases for racial reasons. The Court of Appeals encountered significant variation in how the trial judges approached the prosecution’s dismissal of each juror. One judge explained the circumstances at length, one judge gave virtually no explanation and the third…
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Boulder County residents cannot sue over firearm discharge on federal land, appeals court rules
Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday that two residents of Boulder County could not sue the county’s commissioners for walking back a policy originally banning firearms discharge on nearby land owned by the U.S. government. Boulder County leaders enacted a resolution in 2022 expanding the area near Sugarloaf Mountain in which it was unlawful to…
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Divided Colorado Supreme Court: Criminal trial livestreams not enough to satisfy public trial right
A slim majority of the Colorado Supreme Court decided on Monday that livestreaming criminal proceedings without also opening the physical courtroom to spectators may violate the constitutional guarantee of a public trial. Addressing an issue that arose during the early COVID-19 pandemic, the justices considered whether it was acceptable for trial judges to restrict their…
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Colorado justices to examine what happens when governments withhold key info from injured plaintiffs
The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will decide whether injured plaintiffs do not have to strictly comply with the legal deadline for notifying the government if a public entity’s conduct makes it impossible to timely identify who should be sued. At least three of the court’s seven members must agree to hear a case…
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Chief justice, top appeals judges address Colorado legal community | APPELLATE UPDATE
Members of Colorado’s state and federal appellate courts addressed the legal community on Friday with the latest details about caseloads, internal changes and upcoming initiatives. Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez, who has occupied the state’s top judicial role for almost one year, described an “interesting trend” of the Colorado Supreme Court receiving slightly fewer petitions to…
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Appeals judge warns police against overly broad cell phone search warrants
A member of the state’s second-highest court warned last month that law enforcement personnel should be on notice by now that they cannot obtain warrants seeking broad amounts of data from a suspect’s cell phone records unrelated to the crime. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals upheld the convictions and 102-year prison sentence…
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Colorado Supreme Court accepts cases on leaving the scene of accidents, insurance
The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will consider whether prosecutors must prove defendants knew they were involved in an accident resulting in death or serious injury in order to be convicted for leaving the scene. At least three of the court’s seven members must agree to hear a case on appeal. The…