jury instruction
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Appeals court orders new menacing trial after faulty self-defense instruction
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Colorado’s second-highest court ordered a new trial last week for an El Paso County defendant convicted of felony menacing, concluding an erroneous self-defense instruction may have influenced the verdict. Under Colorado law, self-defense is an affirmative defense, meaning the prosecution must disprove at least one component in addition to proving the underlying offense. Judges are…
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Appeals judge believes revised ‘reasonable doubt’ definition is unconstitutional
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Although Colorado’s second-highest court has issued multiple decisions in recent months upholding a revised definition of “reasonable doubt” from three years ago, an appellate judge became the first on Thursday to argue that a key phrase violates defendants’ constitutional right to due process. Judge Michael H. Berger warned that, in his view, it is problematic…
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Appeals court overturns road rage murder conviction due to faulty jury instruction
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Colorado’s second-highest court overturned a defendant’s murder conviction on Thursday, concluding an Arapahoe County judge provided an incorrect self-defense instruction to the jury about the road rage encounter. In November 2020, Romeo Desean Thompson was behind Phillip Hunt at an intersection. The light turned green, but Hunt did not immediately move forward. Thompson honked, after…
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Colorado Supreme Court to hear 2 Denver criminal appeals
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The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will decide whether the state’s second-highest court correctly overturned a defendant’s vehicular eluding conviction due to the faulty wording of a jury instruction. The justices also will review whether the Court of Appeals properly rejected an appeal by prosecutors that was filed beyond the procedural deadline,…
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Appeals court orders new murder trial after Denver judge gave faulty self-defense instruction
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Colorado’s second-highest court overturned a man’s murder conviction and life sentence on Thursday after concluding a Denver judge gave a problematic self-defense instruction to jurors, casting doubt on the verdict. Jurors delivered a split verdict, acquitting Oscar D. Villegas-Ortega of first-degree murder after deliberation, but convicting him of another murder charge as well as manslaughter and assault.…
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Colorado’s new ‘reasonable doubt’ instruction upheld, despite cautions from some appeals judges
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Colorado’s second-highest court has upheld the recently reworded definition of “reasonable doubt” that appears in the template jury instructions for criminal trials, which generated controversy at the time of its debut. In a pair of precedent-setting opinions issued the same day last week, two separate panels for the Court of Appeals found no legal deficiency…
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Colorado Supreme Court to review case of spiritual leader found guilty of child abuse
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The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will review whether the Court of Appeals correctly overturned a woman’s felony convictions for child abuse resulting in death due to an inadequate jury instruction. Hannah Marshall, 8, and Makayla Roberts, 10, were discovered dead and decomposing in a vehicle located on Frederick “Alec” Blair’s Norwood farm…
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Assault, murder convictions reversed in 2 cases for judges’ errors
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday reversed two sets of criminal convictions because trial judges gave improper instructions to jurors or incorrectly allowed damaging evidence to be heard. In the first case out of Jefferson County, jurors convicted Clinton Eugene Priest of murdering and assaulting Robert Miller after the two men got into a physical confrontation outside…
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Felony child abuse convictions overturned in high-profile case due to instruction error
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Colorado’s second-highest court reversed a woman’s felony convictions for child abuse resulting in death last month after concluding the instructions that a San Miguel County judge provided the jury did not include the necessary language. Hannah Marshall, 8, and Makayla Roberts, 10, were discovered dead and decomposing in a vehicle located on Frederick “Alec” Blair’s Norwood…
