justice william hood
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The influencers? Some Colorado appeals judges outpace colleagues in setting legal precedent
A handful of judges on Colorado’s second-highest court are producing substantially more precedent-setting opinions than their colleagues, which create binding interpretations of the law that reach beyond individual cases. The Court of Appeals issues approximately 1,700 opinions each year. A small number receives state Supreme Court review, but the appellate court is otherwise the final…
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Colorado justices skeptical of appellate court’s limitation on prosecution’s appeal
The Colorado Supreme Court seemed skeptical on Tuesday that Denver prosecutors should be barred from appealing a trial judge’s permanent dismissal of a criminal case, based upon the sequence of events after the original ruling. Prosecutors charged Quinn M. Jebe with offenses relating to drug distribution and sexual assault on a child. In July 2023,…
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Colorado Supreme Court lifts curtain on decision-making at legal event
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court sat down with lawyers on Wednesday to answer questions about behind-the-scenes topics, including what happens immediately after an appeal is argued, why they might intervene in an ongoing case, and the consequence of a majority flipping from one side to the other. “This is what happens when the court…
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Divided Colorado Supreme Court rejects defendant’s claim of deficient DNA investigation
The Colorado Supreme Court decided on Tuesday, by 4-2, that a defendant failed to allege how uninvestigated, inaccessible DNA evidence would have shown he was wrongly convicted. When Jamale D. Townsell filed a petition from prison seeking postconviction relief, he argued his trial lawyer was constitutionally ineffective for failing to properly investigate DNA evidence that…
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Colorado justices skeptical that intimate messages relevant to assault case
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court seemed to agree 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. Jurors found Donald Louis Gerle guilty in 2022. In the prosecution’s telling, Gerle began beating his alleged victim following…
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Colorado justices weigh potentially faulty jury instruction in child abuse case
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court questioned on Tuesday whether a San Miguel County jury convicted a defendant of child abuse resulting in death, even though the instructions potentially allowed jurors to avoid finding that the child abuse resulted in death. Previously, the state’s Court of Appeals reversed the convictions and 64-year prison sentence of…
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Divided Colorado Supreme Court curtails use of laced-substances defense
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday walked back the ability of criminal defendants to claim their conduct was the result of consuming an intoxicating substance that secretly contained another behavior-altering substance. Under state law, “involuntary intoxication” is an affirmative defense, meaning the prosecution has to disprove some component of that defense for the jury to…
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Appeals judge asks Colorado Supreme Court to once again clarify magistrate rules
A member of Colorado’s second-highest court urged the state Supreme Court last week to revise confusing language in the rules governing magistrates, less than two weeks after an attempted cleanup of the rules took effect. Magistrates are judicial employees who are not judges but who handle aspects of cases in the trial courts. Litigants may consent…
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Colorado Supreme Court struggles with rubric for significant reductions in parenting time
The Colorado Supreme Court attempted to identify on Wednesday the circumstances under which judges may reduce the number of days a parent spends with their child post-divorce without it rising to the level of a “restriction” that requires more rigorous justification under the law. During oral arguments, some members expressed discomfort with a recent Court…
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Colorado justices clarify procedure for defendants to access DNA analyst’s criminal file
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that trial judges may order Jefferson County prosecutors to disclose information related to the criminal prosecution of a DNA analyst accused of misconduct, but defendants seeking those files cannot rely on the order alone to gain access. Yvonne “Missy” Woods is a former Colorado Bureau of Investigation DNA…