menacing
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Appeals court orders new menacing trial after faulty self-defense instruction
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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Mesa County judge wrong to conclude hatchet not a ‘knife,’ says appeals court
Colorado’s second-highest court determined last week that a Mesa County judge incorrectly reduced a defendant’s menacing charge from a felony to a misdemeanor after finding his hatchet did not meet the definition of “knife.” A person commits menacing as a misdemeanor if they use threats or physical actions to place another person in fear of…
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Appeals court ‘reluctantly’ sides with Jeffco DA in disapproving judge’s self-defense ruling
Colorado’s second-highest court, by 2-1, agreed last week that a Jefferson County judge should not have let jurors consider whether a defendant acted in self-defense at a trial that resulted in his acquittal for menacing a police officer. However, members of the three-judge Court of Appeals panel criticized District Attorney Alexis King’s office for bringing…
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Appeals court reverses Weld County robbery convictions due to unreliable witness ID
Colorado’s second-highest court reversed a defendant’s convictions out of Weld County last week, concluding the victim’s identification was unreliable and may have been the product of police influence. In August 2019, a teenage pizza delivery driver was leaving his job. Just after he closed the door to his vehicle, a man opened it, told the…
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Colorado Springs officers to face civil trial for luring man out of home, chasing him inside prior to death
A federal judge ruled last week that a jury will decide whether four Colorado Springs police officers violated a man’s constitutional rights by chasing him inside his home without a warrant and restraining him as he lay on the floor dying. Chad Alexander Burnett was mentally ill and allegedly behaving menacingly toward his neighbors. When…
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No probable cause hearing for defendant already in prison, appeals court says
An El Paso County judge mistakenly dismissed a criminal charge against a man who was incarcerated out of state, Colorado’s second-highest court determined on Thursday, finding the judge incorrectly believed the defendant was entitled to a probable cause hearing. Colorado law gives suspects accused of serious felonies the right to a preliminary hearing, at which the…
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No probable cause hearing for defendant already in prison, appeals court says
An El Paso County judge mistakenly dismissed a criminal charge against a man who was incarcerated out of state, Colorado’s second-highest court determined on Thursday, finding the judge incorrectly believed the defendant was entitled to a probable cause hearing. Colorado law gives suspects accused of serious felonies the right to a preliminary hearing, at which the…
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Durango officials immune from suit despite questions about probable cause, 10th Circuit rules
The federal appeals court based in Denver acknowledged on Monday that there were “valid questions” about whether Durango police had probable cause to arrest a man, but ultimately awarded immunity to the officers and prosecutors for their unsuccessful criminal case against the suspect. Christopher Joe Clark alleged law enforcement should not have arrested him for…
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Guilty, yet innocent: Colorado justices examine requirements for unique type of plea
In 1970, the U.S. Supreme Court gave its approval to a special type of guilty plea, one in which a criminal defendant maintains his innocence while, at the same time, accepting a plea deal from the prosecution. Those “Alford pleas,” named after the case North Carolina v. Alford, are permissible when a defendant believes it is…
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Divided appeals court reinstates criminal charges after judge failed to order witnesses’ arrest
In a divided ruling last week, Colorado’s second-highest court decided an El Paso County judge wrongly dismissed a criminal case when she should have instead issued warrants to arrest the witnesses who failed to appear. Given the circumstances in March 2021, which included COVID-19 restrictions on jury trials and the prosecution’s lack of evidence, then-District…