judge ted tow
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Appeals judge suggests legislature clarify law providing compensation to exonerated defendants
A member of Colorado’s second-highest court suggested last month that lawmakers clarify whether defendants are only supposed to be eligible for compensation when they are innocent of the specific crime they were convicted of, even if there is evidence their conduct still amounted to a different crime. In 2013, the legislature passed the Exoneration Act,…
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Colorado Supreme Court rules technical oversight does not imperil Denver murder conviction
The Colorado Supreme Court decided on Monday that no specific procedure is required to designate a witness as an expert at trial, and the fact that a trial judge neglected to do so in front of the jury did not warrant reversal of a man’s murder conviction. Denver jurors convicted Pete Paul Martinez of stabbing 77-year-old Lewis Easterday to…
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Colorado justices decline to find life sentences unconstitutional for non-triggermen
A life sentence without parole does not violate the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment for defendants who did not kill the victim personally, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday. Prior to 2021, life without parole was the punishment for those convicted of felony murder. A defendant is guilty of felony murder if…
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Technical oversight or key error? Colorado justices weigh reversal of Denver murder conviction
The Colorado Supreme Court appeared doubtful on Tuesday that the failure to formally designate a witness as an expert in front of the jury rose to the level of mistake that would require a new murder trial for the defendant. Denver jurors convicted Pete Paul Martinez of stabbing 77-year-old Lewis Easterday to death near Cheesman Park in 2016. Martinez…
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Law firms may bar attorneys from recruiting away coworkers, appeals court says
Colorado’s second-highest court ruled earlier this month that law firms may prohibit their attorneys from attempting to lure away coworkers while they remain employed at the firm. The rules of professional conduct for attorneys prohibit any agreement that restricts a lawyer’s right to practice after they leave a firm. Earlier this year, the state Supreme Court decided…
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Appeals court confirms no bias by judge who formerly represented defendant
Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday that a Saguache County judge was not biased against a criminal defendant whose case she briefly worked on during her prior career as a public defender. A jury convicted Donald L. Garcia of motor vehicle theft in a trial presided over by Chief Judge Amanda C. Hopkins. On appeal,…
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Seventh time’s the charm? Trial judge again under consideration for appeals court vacancy
Colorado’s Court of Appeals has experienced unusually high turnover recently, with Gov. Jared Polis appointing 11 of its 22 members in little under six years. As Polis prepares to select a 12th judge to the state’s second-highest court, a familiar name is under consideration: District Court Judge Priscilla J. Loew. For each of the past six vacancies…
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Lawyer who brought outside legal information into jury room triggers new sex assault trial
A man serving a potential life sentence for sexually assaulting a woman will receive a new trial after Colorado’s second-highest court agreed an attorney who served on the jury injected damaging, outside legal information into deliberations. In 2016, a jury convicted Damon D. Newman of raping a woman at gunpoint at Sloan’s Lake. Investigators linked Newman…
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Appeals court invokes ‘drastic’ sanction, throws out multimillion-dollar claim in RTD rail construction project
Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday determined the $5.7 million a trial judge awarded a subcontractor for its work on the Regional Transportation District’s commuter rail expansion is invalid because the company initially sought more than two times that amount without any basis for doing so. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals interpreted for…
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Colorado Supreme Court to hear cases on Weld County redistricting, Xcel electrocution
The Colorado Supreme Court announced recently that it will hear appeals in multiple cases, including whether Weld County must follow state law when drawing new legislative districts and when utilities may be held liable for injuries caused by their power lines. At least three of the court’s seven members must agree to take up a…