prosecutorial misconduct
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Colorado Supreme Court, 4-3, agrees with drastic penalty for misconduct-plagued DA’s office
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The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday, by 4-3, agreed a Fremont County judge was within her authority to reduce a first-degree murder charge against a criminal defendant because the district attorney’s office was responsible for a pattern of withholding evidence across many cases in violation of its professional obligations. Despite the split decision, all members…
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Arapahoe County murder conviction overturned due to prosecutor misconduct
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A teenager convicted of murder will receive a new trial after Colorado’s second-highest court determined on Thursday that Arapahoe County prosecutors inappropriately used the defendant’s constitutional right to silence as evidence of his guilt. Jurors convicted Marquez Woodruff in 2019 of fatally shooting Terry Capler in the latter’s Aurora home. Woodruff, who was 16 at the time…
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Ethics opinion: Judge may testify in misconduct investigation into DA
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A trial judge may testify in misconduct proceedings involving an elected district attorney and their office without automatically needing to recuse from any criminal cases, the Colorado Supreme Court’s ethics panel concluded earlier this month. The Judicial Ethics Advisory Board, which consists of attorneys, judges and one non-lawyer, confirmed it is a judge’s duty to…
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Divided appeals court finds no misconduct from Denver prosecutor’s inflammatory argument
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While the Colorado Supreme Court has established that prosecutors may not characterize a witness’s testimony as a “lie,” the state’s second-highest court has decided, by 2-1, a Denver prosecutor did not cross the line by repeatedly using a synonym for “lie.” Jurors convicted Rigoberto E. Fernandez in 2015 for stabbing a man at Montbello Recreation…
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Arapahoe County prosecutors’ misconduct prompts appeals court to reverse convictions
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Misconduct from Arapahoe County prosecutors and a trial judge’s refusal to provide a key jury instruction prompted Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday to overturn a man’s bank robbery convictions. In 2019, jurors convicted Steven Dudley Smith of robbery, menacing and kidnapping charges related to four bank robberies. Although police caught Smith at the scene of…
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Adams County judge properly dismissed charge after prosecutors failed to disclose evidence, appeals court says
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Because Adams County prosecutors disclosed key evidence in a criminal case only four days before trial – and 11 months after the evidence first became available – a judge acted within his authority by dismissing one of the charges against the defendant, the Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday. James Andrew Petrie stands accused of three drug-related…
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El Paso County prosecutor committed misconduct, prompting appeals court to reverse convictions
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In a rare finding of prosecutorial misconduct, Colorado’s second-highest court reversed a man’s convictions for attempted murder and assault on Thursday because an El Paso County prosecutor misled jurors into thinking defendant Charles Eugene Jefferson was responsible for the victim’s failure to testify at trial. Andrew Lower, a deputy district attorney, told jurors the reason…
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Colorado appeals court reverses assault conviction due to Denver prosecutor’s misconduct
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday reversed a woman’s assault conviction and nine-year prison sentence because a Denver prosecutor improperly commented upon Cristina Rogers’ constitutional right not to testify. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals explained that even indirect statements about a defendant exercising their right against self-incrimination can trigger reversal if the prosecution…