judge william martinez
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Federal judge weighs release of detained man tortured in home country
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A federal judge on Friday considered whether to release a man in custody who suffered torture at the hands of government authorities in his home country and who remains detained, even after prevailing on multiple occasions in recent immigration proceedings. Exactly two years ago, the Denver-based federal appeals court concluded an immigration judge’s decision to…
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Federal judge imposes $90K+ in fees, sanctions on Colorado podcaster
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A federal judge this week imposed more than $90,000 in attorney fees and sanctions on a conservative podcaster whose unsubstantiated claims of election-rigging prompted a series of defamation lawsuits against him and those who broadcast the allegations. In a pair of orders on Monday and Tuesday, U.S. District Court Senior Judge William J. Martínez directed Oltmann…
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Federal judge ‘troubled’ by unknown location ICE intended to transfer detained man
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A federal judge stated on Monday he was “troubled” by allegations that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was planning to transfer a man in custody outside of Colorado to an unknown location. Two years ago, Dennis Arostegui-Maldonado won a favorable ruling in his immigration case from the Denver-based federal appeals court. Subsequently, he received an order…
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Colorado’s federal trial judges keep backlogs steady, but data show discrepancies
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Colorado’s federal trial judges collectively had 71 motions in civil cases that had been sitting on their dockets for at least six months without a ruling as of March 31, according to recently released data from the judiciary. However, the reported information contains discrepancies, and at least one judge’s list understates his number of pending…
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Federal judge begrudgingly dismisses Club Q survivors’ claims against El Paso County, ex-sheriff
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A federal judge vented his frustration on Monday with El Paso County leaders, criticizing their lackluster approach to a key gun safety law while acknowledging he was obligated to dismiss the claims against them brought by survivors of an LGBTQ nightclub shooting. “Plaintiffs can take some slim solace in the fact that, while the individual county…
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Federal judge ‘reluctantly’ dismisses claim by Club Q survivors against property owners
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A federal judge agreed last week that a recent change to Colorado law barred him from allowing the survivors of an LGBTQ nightclub shooting to hold the property owners liable for safety deficiencies that allegedly contributed to the massacre. At the same time, U.S. District Court Senior Judge William J. Martínez slammed the legislature’s 2022 amendment…
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10th Circuit upholds $1,000-a-day sanction on Colorado podcaster in defamation case
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The Denver-based federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld a $1,000-per-day sanction against a conservative podcaster who absconded from the courthouse where he was required to sit for a deposition — and instead returned home to record a podcast and insult the judge. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit also…
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Colorado federal judges unveil new ‘civility code,’ share stories about bad behavior
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Four members of Colorado’s U.S. District Court introduced lawyers on Tuesday to a new, nonbinding “civility code” and expressed frustration about overly belligerent behavior they are seeing more frequently from attorneys. “It feeds on itself. One lawyer in a case starts with snarky comments in the briefs or the motions, the other side may try…
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10th Circuit rules ex-Denver police chief entitled to immunity for 2020 protest injury
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Denver’s former police chief cannot be held liable for a woman’s injury during a 2020 protest because his directives for officers to use force were “in the abstract and from a distance,” the Colorado-based federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The lawsuit from Suzy Dennis was one of several filed in federal court following the police…
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Federal judge advances defamation claims of ex-Dominion Voting exec to trial
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A federal judge on Friday agreed a former executive of Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems may proceed to a jury trial against an Oklahoma podcaster who spread unsubstantiated allegations of election rigging and “treason” in the wake of the 2020 presidential election. U.S. District Court Senior Judge William J. Martínez concluded certain statements disseminated by Clayton Thomas “Clay”…