probation
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10th Circuit appoints ex-Colorado solicitor general to argue issue after federal government declines
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The Denver-based federal appeals court took the unusual step earlier this month of appointing an attorney to independently argue a key issue in a criminal sentencing appeal after the government indicated it would not contest the defendant’s view of the law. The case of Malachi Mathias Moon Seals out of Colorado was already in the…
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10th Circuit to address resentencing of probation violators in rare all-judges hearing
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The Denver-based federal appeals court agreed on Thursday to hold a rare all-judges hearing to determine the proper procedure for resentencing a criminal defendant who has violated the terms of his probation. In the federal appellate courts, the vast majority of cases are decided in three-judge panels. Occasionally, the courts will vote to have all…
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10th Circuit rejects defendant’s theory for re-sentencing probation violators
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The Denver-based federal appeals court rejected a defendant’s theory for re-sentencing people who violate the terms of their probation last month, with one judge defending his precedent-setting framework from possible full-court review. At the same time, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit agreed the trial judge who sentenced…
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10th Circuit orders resentencing after government concedes man’s serious probation violation cannot stand
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The Denver-based federal appeals court granted an unusual joint request between the prosecution and the defense on Wednesday, directing a judge to resentence a man who was incorrectly found guilty of a severe probation violation. There are multiple classifications of federal probation violations, with Grade C being the least serious and Grade A being the…
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Denver judge wrongly found government had proven juvenile’s probation violation, says appeals court
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Colorado’s second-highest court last month rejected a Denver judge’s conclusion that a juvenile defendant had violated the terms of his probation, which resulted in a sentence of 15 days’ detention plus additional probation. In a May 1 opinion, a three-judge Court of Appeals panel noted a juvenile identified as M.M-S. pleaded guilty to possessing a…
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Colorado justices allow sentences of probation after prison, even though prison-plus-probation illegal
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Even though the Colorado Supreme Court ruled five years ago that sentences of prison plus probation are illegal, the justices decided on Monday that judges were permitted to fix those sentences by imposing basically the same punishment. In its 2019 decision of Allman v. People, the Supreme Court ruled that state law treats probation as an…
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Appeals court says no automatic cross-examination of witnesses whose probation ends by trial
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If a person was serving a probationary sentence at the time they witnessed a crime, but their probation ended by the time they testified at trial, the defense does not have the right to let jurors hear about that witness’s connection to the prosecution, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday. A three-judge panel for the…
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Appeals court divided over whether La Plata County judge’s illegal sentence is ‘salvageable’
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday agreed a La Plata County judge imposed an illegal sentence, but remained divided about whether it should repair the problem itself. In the underlying case, Jacob Daniel John Jost pleaded guilty in 2023 to criminal mischief and received a sentence of two years’ probation. Later that year, he violated his…
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Sentencing practices, jury pet peeves and more: Federal judges give peek behind the curtain
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At a gathering of federal judges and attorneys last week, one member of the bench disclosed that she has instituted a new practice of meeting with criminal defendants after they finish their incarceration to discuss their plans for success on supervised release. “It’s not an interview, it’s a dialogue,” said U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte…
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Colorado Supreme Court tiptoes around prior edict forbidding prison plus probation
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Five years ago, the Colorado Supreme Court interpreted state law to prohibit judges from imposing a sentence of prison plus probation in a single criminal case. But on Wednesday, the justices appeared to endorse the idea that judges could resentence affected defendants in a fashion that preserves the same — illegal — punishment. In its 2019 decision…
