justice maria berkenkotter
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Colorado justices weigh ‘extreme’ proposals for civil jury trial requests
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court grappled last week with two vastly different proposals for evaluating when it is appropriate for a civil litigant to ask for a jury trial, as opposed to a bench trial before a judge. The Colorado Constitution does not contain the right to a jury trial in civil cases. Instead,…
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Colorado justices weigh ‘extreme’ proposals for civil jury trial requests
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court grappled last week with two vastly different proposals for evaluating when it is appropriate for a civil litigant to ask for a jury trial, as opposed to a bench trial before a judge. The Colorado Constitution does not contain the right to a jury trial in civil cases. Instead,…
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Colorado Supreme Court says intimate messages irrelevant to assault case
The Colorado Supreme Court decided on Tuesday that a Douglas County judge acted reasonably by blocking evidence of a defendant’s BDSM-related conversations with the victim in his trial for assault and false imprisonment. While the Court of Appeals believed that the communications between Donald Louis Gerle and the victim were relevant to proving whether he…
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Property owners may access evidence before eminent domain decisions, Colorado justices conclude
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that a Douglas County judge incorrectly believed he lacked the authority to allow a property owner to pursue evidence challenging a government entity’s legal right to take its property through eminent domain. In a June 23 opinion, Justice Susan Blanco wrote that the law does not explicitly provide…
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Colorado justices walk back appeals court’s expansion of rezoning via ballot box
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that rezonings of planned-unit developments cannot occur through a vote at the ballot box, reversing an appellate decision that found such changes were fair game for a popular vote. In contrast to traditional, or “Euclidean,” zoning, which separates land uses by type, planned-unit developments are based on negotiated…
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Colorado Supreme Court recognizes right to self-defense in workplace
The Colorado Supreme Court recognized on Monday that there is a right to self-defense in the workplace for which employers may not terminate workers so long as they lawfully exercise that right. The court’s majority in the 5-2 decision cautioned that its holding was narrow, but that the history and importance of self-defense meant the…
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Colorado Supreme Court heads toward summer recess, newest justice authors first opinion | COURT CRAWL
Welcome to Court Crawl, Colorado Politics’ roundup of news from the third branch of government. The state Supreme Court is in the process of releasing a large batch of opinions as it heads toward its summer recess in July, plus the newest justice authored her first opinion for the court. Colorado Supreme Court news • The…
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Colorado Supreme Court declines to loosen requirements for insurance company defendants
The Colorado Supreme Court declined last week to reconsider its longstanding expectations for insurance company defendants, and agreed that an insurer failed to properly raise its defenses against a policyholder’s breach-of-contract lawsuit. When an insured driver has an accident with someone who is uninsured, they may obtain benefits under their own insurance policy for the…
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Colorado justices say judges can nearly eliminate parenting time without it being a ‘restriction’
The Colorado Supreme Court concluded last month that judges can reduce the number of days a parent spends with their child post-divorce to just above zero without it rising to the level of a “restriction” that requires more rigorous justification under the law. While all members of the court agreed that a judge’s decision to…
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Internal appeals of parole revocation must come before judicial review, Colorado justices conclude
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled last month that criminal defendants whose parole is revoked must appeal the decision internally to the state’s parole board before seeking review by a judge. The process for returning someone to incarceration for violating the conditions of their parole first entails a hearing by one member of the Colorado State…