jury instructions
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Colorado Supreme Court appears OK with revised ‘reasonable doubt’ instruction
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The Colorado Supreme Court appeared largely comfortable on Thursday with the recently revised definition of “reasonable doubt” that is now part of the template jury instructions for criminal cases. To date, multiple Court of Appeals decisions have endorsed the constitutionality of the new phrasing, which resembles the instruction given in Colorado’s federal trial court. U.S.…
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‘Pick your battles’: Federal judge walks lawyers through do’s and don’ts of jury instructions
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Jury instructions should be relevant, accurate, brief and understandable. Those were the key points emphasized by U.S. District Court Senior Judge Christine M. Arguello on Friday during a presentation to lawyers at the federal courthouse in downtown Denver. She said the “straw that broke the camel’s back” and prompted her to speak publicly about the…
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Judges warn about bias in courtrooms, legal profession
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During his career as a lawyer, Denver District Court Judge Jon J. Olafson, who is gay, would get singled out as “the party planner.” Karen Steinhauser, a lawyer and Aurora Municipal Court relief judge, was once called up to a judge’s bench by herself, only to be told, “You look really lovely today.” “When we…
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Colorado appeals court reverses Adams County murder conviction due to judge’s faulty analogy
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday once again overturned a defendant’s conviction because an Adams County judge illustrated reasonable doubt to jurors in a way that improperly lessened the prosecution’s burden to prove him guilty. The Court of Appeals has repeatedly reversed the convictions of defendants for more than a year – exclusively from Adams County – after the Colorado Supreme Court decided last January that some…
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Prosecutors, defense lawyers blindsided by new ‘reasonable doubt’ instruction
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Colorado’s prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys were caught off guard on Friday by a small judicial committee’s quiet change to the longstanding definition of “beyond a reasonable doubt” in the template instructions for jury trials. While prosecutors appeared cautiously supportive of the rewrite, defense lawyers condemned the sudden move. The Model Criminal Jury Instructions Committee,…