methamphetamine
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Appeals court overturns Adams County drug convictions due to unconstitutional police conduct
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Colorado’s second-highest court overturned a man’s drug convictions and 25-year prison sentence on Thursday after concluding two Northglenn police officers unconstitutionally transformed a traffic stop into a drug investigation without reasonable suspicion of a crime. Clifton E. McRae, who was originally stopped for making an illegal turn, repeatedly declined to consent to a search of…
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Colorado justices uphold $10.5 million award in downstairs meth lab case
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The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday upheld a judge’s $10.5 million award to a woman and her daughter for their injuries stemming from toxic exposure from a suspected downstairs meth lab in their Littleton apartment building. The court originally took up the appeal to decide when a person or entity is required to preserve evidence…
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Colorado Supreme Court says license plate corresponding to other vehicle is grounds for stopping driver
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An Adams County deputy’s discovery that the license plates on a vehicle were registered to another car provided him the reasonable suspicion required to detain the driver, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday. However, the justices stopped short of deeming the subsequent vehicle search constitutional, as the trial judge had not yet evaluated whether…
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Montezuma County man’s drug conviction overturned because prosecution presented skewed narrative
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Colorado’s second-highest court last week overturned a Montezuma County man’s drug conviction after concluding a judge allowed the prosecution to present a misleading version of what happened during the defendant’s arrest. At the 2022 trial of Ramon Alberto Dejesus III, jurors saw a series of largely muted videos depicting Dejesus’ arrest and booking into jail. At…
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Federal judge dismisses man’s claims against Jeffco SWAT officers for home raid
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A federal judge last month dismissed a man’s claims that Jefferson County SWAT team members violated his constitutional rights by forcefully entering his home with little warning, damaging the apartment and removing him half-naked while they executed a search warrant. Lance P. Schendorf is serving a 20-year prison sentence after a jury convicted him in…
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Appeals court clarifies significance of pinpointing drug exposure for child neglect cases
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday clarified it does matter whether a child experienced drug exposure in her parents’ custody, rejecting a Montrose County judge’s conclusion that the location was irrelevant to determining whether the infant was neglected. A child is neglected under Colorado law if, among other things, their “environment is injurious” to their welfare.…
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Downstairs meth lab case has Colorado justices evaluating duty to preserve evidence
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When an Arapahoe County judge awarded a woman and her daughter $10.5 million for their injuries, finding their landlord had not reasonably responded to allegations of toxic exposure from a downstairs meth lab, he also concluded the landlord willfully failed to preserve evidence. Last week, before the Colorado Supreme Court, the now-bankrupt Terra Management Group sought a…
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Thornton officer’s unlawful search prompts appeals court to overturn Adams County drug conviction
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An Adams County judge wrongly allowed evidence from an unconstitutional search in a man’s trial, prompting Colorado’s second-highest court to overturn the drug conviction last month. Jurors convicted Thomas Sandoval of one count of drug possession, after a Thornton police officer discovered a small container of methamphetamine during a pat-down search for weapons. Sandoval appealed,…
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Colorado Supreme Court to hear cases on ‘3 strikes’ law, Littleton family’s meth exposure
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The Colorado Supreme Court announced this month it will hear cases that could drastically broaden the relief available to people serving lengthy sentences under the state’s “three strikes” law and that would potentially reduce a multimillion-dollar award to two tenants who were poisoned by a downstairs meth operation. At least three of the court’s seven…
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10th Circuit agrees Colorado trooper committed constitutional violation in I-70 vehicle search
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The federal appeals court based in Denver agreed on Monday that a state trooper lacked reasonable suspicion to investigate a motorist for drug trafficking – based on little more than the driver’s messy vehicle, plans to visit a religious center and being “overly cooperative.” Although Trooper Shane Gosnell ended up being correct that Luis Alfonso Leon…
