pueblo county
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Federal judge rules Pueblo sheriff’s officials will face jury trial for killing man at school
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Multiple Pueblo County sheriff’s employees will face a civil jury trial after one deputy shot and killed a man outside a middle school and other deputies placed his mother under arrest for hours without justification, a federal judge ruled earlier this month. Kristy Ward Stamp, mother of the late Richard Ward, alleged Deputy Charles McWhorter,…
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Appeals court says prosecutors may use evidence of defendant abusing witness to boost credibility
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Colorado’s second-highest court ruled last week that prosecutors may introduce evidence at trial of a defendant’s past abuse of a witness if it will help jurors understand why the witness may have originally lied to protect the defendant. Romando Marquis Jones and Dacey Spinuzzi are both serving prison sentences for the death of 14-month-old Aiden Seeley, who…
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SCOTUS gun rights decision does not affect man’s firearm conviction, appeals court rules
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Colorado’s second-highest court declined to consider last week whether a man was convicted of a firearm offense under an unconstitutional law, noting the Colorado Supreme Court recently confirmed that changes in legal interpretation do not affect certain cases on appeal. A Pueblo County jury convicted Thomas Gene Rael in spring 2022 of being a prior…
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Federal judge allows lawsuit to proceed against medical staff in Pueblo County jail
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A federal judge on Monday dismissed claims that medical staff at the Pueblo County jail were deliberately indifferent to a detainee’s risk of suicide in the days before he died, but allowed other claims relating to the man’s physical pain to proceed. Jay Philip Pritchard entered the jail on Oct. 29, 2021, allegedly alerting multiple…
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Appeals court takes no issue with defense lawyer who admitted client’s guilt at trial
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday concluded an attorney did not violate his client’s constitutional right to make key decisions about his defense when the lawyer unilaterally told the jury his client committed some of the charged crimes. The U.S. Supreme Court has provided guidance in recent years about when criminal defense attorneys may concede their…
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Pueblo County judge wrongly incarcerated man awaiting sanity evaluation, Supreme Court rules
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A Pueblo County judge incorrectly believed he had to put a defendant in jail until medical professionals could evaluate the man’s sanity, the Colorado Supreme Court concluded last week in ordering the release of Mario Arellano from incarceration. In November, Arellano drove his car into the food court of the Pueblo Mall and claimed he had planted…
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Colorado justices signal intervention in 4 ongoing cases, including jury trials for evictions and Ouray rape prosecution
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The Colorado Supreme Court recently signaled it may intervene in four ongoing cases in the trial courts on subjects that include a tenant’s right to a jury trial in eviction proceedings, whether defendants should remain incarcerated pending a sanity evaluation and a judge’s decision to sanction prosecutors for late-disclosed evidence. Although most of the Supreme…
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COVID-19 an ‘occupational disease’ triggering workers’ comp benefits, appeals court rules
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Colorado’s second-highest court ruled for the first time on Thursday that COVID-19 is an “occupational disease” that entitled the widow of a deceased nursing home employee to workers’ compensation benefits. Vincent Gaines was a floor technician at the University Park Care Center in Pueblo County, operated by Life Care Centers of America. Although there was no evidence…
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Colorado House speaker turns away Israeli families, proposal requiring pet registration is likely dead | WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
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Today is Feb. 6, 2024, and here’s what you need to know: A delegation of Israeli officials and representatives of six families of hostages and victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack was turned away Monday by House Speaker Julie McCluskie. That wasn’t how it was supposed to happen, according to Rep. Ron Weinberg, R-Loveland,…