justice william hood
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Colorado Supreme Court end-of-term stats, federal judges’ backlogs increase | COURT CRAWL
Welcome to Court Crawl, Colorado Politics’ roundup of news from the third branch of government. The state Supreme Court’s term revealed increased division among the justices in their opinions, plus Colorado’s federal judges have started to accumulate more overdue motions in civil cases. Colorado Supreme Court 2025-2026 term • Like its federal counterpart, the state…
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Divided opinions tick upward, member goes missing | Colorado Supreme Court term in review
The Colorado Supreme Court released the last decisions of its 2025-2026 term at the end of June, with the final numbers showing a significant uptick in non-unanimous opinions over the prior two terms. Further, the composition of the court had an unexpected change, with the appointment of Justice Susan Blanco in February to succeed Justice…
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Colorado justices expand ability for civil defendants to avoid participating, win after trial
The Colorado Supreme Court decided on Tuesday that a civil defendant, whose non-participation in the case meant that he legally admitted to the sexual assault allegations against him, could nonetheless prevail after he showed up to testify at trial. A plaintiff identified as J.B. filed suit against Metro Taxi on behalf of her child, E.B.,…
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Colorado justices find ability to extend appeal deadline applies equally to prosecutors, defendants
The Colorado Supreme Court decided on Tuesday that prosecutors have the same ability as criminal defendants to freeze their deadline to appeal a trial judge’s ruling when they ask for reconsideration, even though the rules do not explicitly say so. Denver prosecutors charged Quinn M. Jebe with offenses relating to drug distribution and sexual assault…
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Boulder police overreached in interrogating suspect, Colorado Supreme Court finds
Two Boulder detectives violated a man’s constitutional rights by interrogating him at his home using a court order that solely authorized the collection of his DNA evidence, the Colorado Supreme Court concluded on Tuesday. The ruling curtailed the ability of police to use a narrow category of court orders, issued without probable cause, to obtain…
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Divided Colorado Supreme Court finds parental anonymity in ‘safe haven’ law
Parents who surrender their newborns under Colorado’s “safe haven” law are entitled to anonymity and confidentiality in any subsequent adoptive proceedings involving the child, the state Supreme Court ruled on June 8. Colorado’s law, like its counterparts across the country, is intended to provide new parents with an alternative to abandoning an infant in potentially…
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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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Colorado justices, 4-2, say defendant cannot be retried after judge rejected jury’s partial acquittal
If a jury clearly indicates that it has acquitted a defendant of certain charges while remaining deadlocked on others, judges must accept that partial acquittal verdict, a divided Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday. Justice William W. Hood III, in the June 8 majority opinion, acknowledged that judges ordinarily may not ask a deadlocked jury…
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Children’s Colorado must resume care to transgender plaintiffs, state Supreme Court rules by 5-2
The Colorado Supreme Court, by a 5-2 vote, ordered Children’s Hospital Colorado on Monday to resume providing certain medical services to a group of transgender plaintiffs, which it had ceased in the face of funding threats from the federal government last year. The unusual appeal before the Supreme Court stemmed from a trial judge’s rejection…
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Colorado justices recognize limited right to evidence in postconviction challenges
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that defendants challenging their convictions may, in certain circumstances, be entitled to receive the information the prosecution already handed over for trial at no cost. The justices rejected the argument that defendants seeking postconviction relief must use the open records law specific to criminal justice records, which prosecutors’…