judge timothy schutz
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Divided appeals court says local governments may authorize noise limits exceeding state law
Colorado’s second-highest court ruled for the first time earlier this month that local governments may authorize noise permits for activities on private property that exceed the levels set in state law. By 2-1, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals concluded the state’s Noise Abatement Act allowed the city of Salida to issue outdoor…
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Divided Colorado appeals court upholds sex abuse convictions despite problematic testimony
By 2-1, Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday upheld a man’s child sex assault convictions despite an expert witness vouching for the credibility of the victims — which is typically improper. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals agreed Gustavo Lopez “opened the door” to the problematic evidence by suggesting his child victims had been…
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Divided Colorado appeals court upholds sex abuse convictions despite problematic testimony
By 2-1, Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday upheld a man’s child sex assault convictions despite an expert witness vouching for the credibility of the victims – which is typically improper. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals agreed Gustavo Lopez “opened the door” to the problematic evidence by suggesting his child victims had been…
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Divided Colorado appeals court upholds sex abuse convictions despite problematic testimony
By 2-1, Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday upheld a man’s child sex assault convictions despite an expert witness vouching for the credibility of the victims — which is typically improper. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals agreed Gustavo Lopez “opened the door” to the problematic evidence by suggesting his child victims had been…
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Appeals court warns judges, prosecutors to stop dragging feet on victim restitution
Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday warned that prosecutors should be moving faster to determine the financial restitution owed to crime victims, and that trial judges are empowered to nudge the prosecution along by setting a timeline for calculating the amount owed. The decision from the Court of Appeals is the latest in a spate of restitution-related…
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Del Norte officials violated open meetings law in deciding to censure board member, appeals court rules
The town board of Del Norte violated Colorado’s open meetings law when it went into a closed-door session and reached a decision to censure one of its members, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday. A trial judge previously concluded the town board’s decision to reprimand former Trustee Laura Anzalone represented its “opinion” on her “performance,”…
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Appeals court rules class action lawsuits not dead even when there is no ‘class’
Colorado’s second-highest court clarified on Thursday that lawsuits filed as class actions may still proceed for the individual named plaintiffs in the event a judge declines to authorize the class portion. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals noted the U.S. Supreme Court, for federal cases, has ruled the lack of a class does…
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Appeals court finds no racial discrimination in jury selection for Weld, Adams County trials
Colorado’s second-highest court last month concluded prosecutors in Weld and Adams counties did not purposefully remove multiple Hispanic jurors from a pair of criminal trials because of their race or ethnicity. Under longstanding U.S. Supreme Court precedent, intentional race-based discrimination in jury selection is unconstitutional. If a prosecutor tries to dismiss a juror of color,…
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Appeals court upholds ejection of disruptive observer from livestream of criminal trial
Colorado’s second-highest court clarified last month that ejecting a disruptive observer from the livestream of a criminal trial will not typically violate the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of a public trial. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals considered for the first time whether a Weld County judge effectively “closed” his courtroom mid-trial by banning…
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Colorado justices struggle with juror in Black defendant’s trial who ‘didn’t want diversity’
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court this week struggled with the fate of a Black defendant’s convictions in an overwhelmingly White jurisdiction, after a trial judge refused to dismiss a juror who admitted he “didn’t want diversity.” Although the justices have previously addressed cases involving people of color who were removed from juries because of…