mesa county
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Appeals court wipes away defendant’s $66,000 restitution obligation after trial judge did not follow law
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Colorado’s second-highest court voided a defendant’s obligation to pay more than $66,000 in crime victim restitution last week, finding a Mesa County judge neglected to follow the process laid out in state law. In Colorado, as part of sentencing, judges must consider whether defendants owe financial restitution to their victims. If so, prosecutors generally need to…
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Mesa County judge wrong to conclude hatchet not a ‘knife,’ says appeals court
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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 judge raises questions about review of custody decisions
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A member of Colorado’s second-highest court suggested last week that appellate judges should have more leeway to decide whether trial judges correctly terminate or decline to terminate parents’ legal rights over their children. At the same time, the three-judge Court of Appeals panel agreed that no specific person has to be identified in order for…
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Federal judge hears testimony, arguments over whether to order ICE to follow warrantless arrest law
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A federal judge heard testimony on Thursday from multiple noncitizens who were arrested by immigration officers in Colorado this year, and arguments from their attorneys that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is violating the legal standard for conducting warrantless arrests. The ACLU of Colorado and other law firms have asked U.S. District Court Senior Judge…
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Colorado justices consider whether man can be convicted for convincing mom to lie for him
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There was no dispute that Michael Thomas Hupke asked his mother to lie to his parole officer on his behalf. Further, Hupke acknowledged Mesa County prosecutors could have charged him as an accomplice to his mother’s deceit, or for soliciting her to do it. But Hupke maintained prosecutors could not do what they actually did:…
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Colorado justices, 5-2, conclude prior version of ‘3 strikes’ law satisfied Constitution
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The state’s highest court ruled on Monday that the version of Colorado’s “three strikes” law that was in effect before this year was constitutionally compliant, notwithstanding a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that prompted the legislature to change how defendants are sentenced. Known as the Habitual Criminal Act, Colorado’s law requires judges to impose three or…
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Appeals judge urges Colorado Supreme Court to analyze alimony obligations after spouses’ remarriage
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A member of Colorado’s second-highest court urged the state Supreme Court on Thursday to address a question that has produced inconsistent answers over five decades: When divorcing spouses agree that one must pay the other alimony, do they need to explicitly mention what will happen if the receiving spouse gets remarried? The purpose of alimony,…
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Colorado’s new ‘reasonable doubt’ instruction upheld, despite cautions from some appeals judges
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Colorado’s second-highest court has upheld the recently reworded definition of “reasonable doubt” that appears in the template jury instructions for criminal trials, which generated controversy at the time of its debut. In a pair of precedent-setting opinions issued the same day last week, two separate panels for the Court of Appeals found no legal deficiency…
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Federal judge IDs flaw with Tina Peters’ request for release
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A federal judge on Monday warned former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters that her request to be released while she appeals her 2024 criminal convictions appears to be brought improperly and may be subject to dismissal. Jurors convicted Peters for her role in a security breach of her office’s voting equipment. She is currently serving a…
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Colorado Supreme Court considers father’s window to sue over daughter’s injury, death
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Facing a confusing matrix in state law, members of the Colorado Supreme Court attempted to sort out on Wednesday how long a father had to sue after his daughter was rendered unconscious and later died from a vehicle accident. Danielle Nicola was crossing a Grand Junction street one night in November 2018 when a driver…
