judge thomas quammen
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Appeals court reverses Weld County robbery convictions due to unreliable witness ID
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Colorado’s second-highest court reversed a defendant’s convictions out of Weld County last week, concluding the victim’s identification was unreliable and may have been the product of police influence. In August 2019, a teenage pizza delivery driver was leaving his job. Just after he closed the door to his vehicle, a man opened it, told the…
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Colorado justices say no automatic reversal when jury convicts on different crime than charged
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The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday there is no automatic reversal of a defendant’s convictions if jurors rely on instructions that outline a different crime than the one prosecutors charged in the first place. The justices concluded that such a change, known as a “constructive amendment,” does not fall in the category of structural…
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Colorado Supreme Court, 4-3, orders new trial after judge blocked defense from questioning alternate suspect
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In the face of strong evidence suggesting a woman sentenced to four years in prison for burglary did not actually commit the crime, the Colorado Supreme Court on Monday agreed a Weld County judge improperly barred the defense from questioning an alternate suspect during trial. The 4-3 decision held that the inability of Nora Hilda Rios-Vargas…
