reasonable doubt
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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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Appeals court reverses another Adams County conviction for judge’s faulty analogy
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday once again overturned a defendant’s convictions because an Adams County judge illustrated reasonable doubt to jurors in a way that improperly lowered the prosecution’s burden to prove him guilty. The Court of Appeals has repeatedly reversed the convictions of defendants for more than a year – exclusively from Adams County – after the Colorado Supreme Court decided in 2022 that some judges’ well-meaning…
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Appeals court reverses another Adams County conviction for judge’s faulty analogy
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday once again overturned a defendant’s convictions because an Adams County judge illustrated reasonable doubt to jurors in a way that improperly lowered the prosecution’s burden to prove him guilty. The Court of Appeals has repeatedly reversed the convictions of defendants for more than a year – exclusively from Adams County – after the Colorado Supreme Court decided in 2022 that some judges’…
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Appeals court reverses another Adams County conviction for judge’s faulty analogy
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday once again overturned a defendant’s convictions because an Adams County judge illustrated reasonable doubt to jurors in a way that improperly lowered the prosecution’s burden to prove him guilty. The Court of Appeals has repeatedly reversed the convictions of defendants for more than a year – exclusively from Adams County – after the Colorado Supreme Court decided in 2022 that some…
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Riverbeds, virtual court, sex abuse and more: The Colorado Supreme Court’s biggest decisions of 2022-23 | COVER STORY
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The Colorado Supreme Court this week wrapped up its calendar of oral arguments and weekly releases of decisions until the fall, leaving behind a roster of major rulings and edicts affecting the administration of justice. Chief Justice Brian D. Boatright said at a lawyers-and-judges conference in May that during the past year, the state’s highest court…
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Colorado appeals court reverses Adams County murder conviction due to judge’s faulty analogy
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday once again overturned a defendant’s conviction because an Adams County judge illustrated reasonable doubt to jurors in a way that improperly lessened the prosecution’s burden to prove him guilty. The Court of Appeals has repeatedly reversed the convictions of defendants for more than a year – exclusively from Adams County – after the Colorado Supreme Court decided last January that some…
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Appeals court reverses another Adams County conviction for judge’s faulty analogy
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by
Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday once again overturned a defendant’s conviction because an Adams County judge illustrated reasonable doubt to jurors in a way that improperly lessened the prosecution’s burden to prove him guilty. The Court of Appeals has repeatedly reversed the convictions of defendants for more than a year, after the Colorado Supreme Court decided last January that some judges’ well-meaning attempts…
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Prosecutors, defense lawyers blindsided by new ‘reasonable doubt’ instruction
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Colorado’s prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys were caught off guard on Friday by a small judicial committee’s quiet change to the longstanding definition of “beyond a reasonable doubt” in the template instructions for jury trials. While prosecutors appeared cautiously supportive of the rewrite, defense lawyers condemned the sudden move. The Model Criminal Jury Instructions Committee,…
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Appeals court reverses another Adams County conviction due to faulty analogy
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday reversed another defendant’s criminal conviction in Adams County because the trial judge explained the concept of reasonable doubt to jurors using an analogy that lowered the prosecution’s burden of proof. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals deemed it a “close question,” but ultimately ordered a new trial for Tylor…
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Appeals court reverses another Adams County conviction for judge’s faulty analogy
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The state’s Court of Appeals has reversed another criminal conviction in Adams County because the trial judge attempted to illustrate the concept of reasonable doubt to jurors in a manner the Colorado Supreme Court has since deemed problematic. Jurors convicted Brett Thomas Little in 2019 on one count of criminal mischief after he allegedly broke…
