judge steve bernard
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Divided appeals court takes no issue with lack of child welfare services to incarcerated father
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Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday that even if a child welfare caseworker could have rehabilitated a father by facilitating visitation time and drug treatment while he was incarcerated, the lack of services was excusable because the man likely would not have taken advantage of them anyway. By 2-1, a three-judge panel of the Court…
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Colorado justices skeptical Aurora officer committed Miranda violation on road rage suspect
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Members of the Colorado Supreme Court appeared skeptical last week that a road rage suspect was “in custody” at the time an Aurora police officer interrogated him, as the state’s second-highest court believed was the case. Under the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Miranda v. Arizona, police must inform a suspect of their rights to…
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Appeals court reinstates Denver sex assault convictions in 12-year-old case
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Following a rare appeal by the prosecution, Colorado’s second-highest court last month reinstated a defendant’s sexual assault convictions, reversing a judge’s order for a new trial based on the alleged ineffectiveness of defense counsel. Stephen J. Ahuero’s criminal case, which began in 2012, previously reached both the Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Court.…
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Appeals judge urges lawmakers to revisit careless driving law
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Colorado’s second-highest court agreed on Thursday that state law only authorized a single criminal sentence for a man whose careless driving resulted in the deaths of two people, and not the two sentences a Larimer County judge originally imposed. Judge Steve Bernard, a member of the three-judge Court of Appeals panel that decided the case,…
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Colorado Supreme Court to hear cases on identity theft, child prostitution
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The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will review two criminal appeals, one questioning the level of proof needed to convict a man for trying to prostitute a child and the other addressing whether an organization can be the victim of identity theft. At least three of the court’s seven members must consent…
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Colorado Supreme Court reverses ruling that would chill lawyers’ speech
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The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday rejected a lower court decision that would have potentially deterred lawyers from disseminating information to the public about class action lawsuits. Although lawyers generally enjoy immunity from defamation claims if they are speaking about their own litigation, the state’s Court of Appeals previously identified an exception to that shield.…
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Colorado Supreme Court to hear Miranda rights appeal from Arapahoe County
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The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday announced it will hear a criminal appeal out of Arapahoe County that asks whether police failed to give a road rage suspect his Miranda warning, and if that failure requires a new trial. At least three of the court’s seven members must agree to review a case. The justices…
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Colorado Supreme Court considers if lawyers’ speech can lead to liability
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After Colorado’s second-highest court decided that lawyers and law firms can be held liable for making inflammatory statements when publicizing certain class action lawsuits, the state Supreme Court agreed to look at whether the new rule went too far. On Wednesday, the justices heard about the implications of attorneys being subject to defamation lawsuits themselves…
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Colorado Supreme Court walks back appeals court’s reversal of $3 million fine against CollegeAmerica
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The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday walked back a lower court’s reversal of a $3 million penalty against a technical college that deceived its students, with the justices instead directing the Court of Appeals to take a closer look at the evidence before ordering a new trial outright. The Supreme Court’s decision means the government…
