richard gabriel
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‘This is how innocent people are convicted,’ defendant alleges wrongful conviction to Supreme Court
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When police arrested Nora Hilda Rios-Vargas for the burglary of a Weld County trailer home where someone had stolen $15,000 in jewelry and $3,000 in coins, there was only one definitive piece of evidence linking her to the crime scene: shards of a bloody latex glove with her DNA on it. At the same time,…
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Colorado Supreme Court’s frustration at state agency boils over in juvenile case
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Members of the Colorado Supreme Court lashed out on Tuesday at the state agency responsible for overseeing certain mental and behavioral health services to juvenile defendants, accusing it of flouting the law. In an appeal out of Weld County, the justices amplified their frustration with the Office of Behavioral Health that previously surfaced in 2019,…
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When is it a felony or a misdemeanor to spit on a cop?
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Colorado’s Supreme Court settled on a definition of what state lawmakers meant when they made it a felony to spit on police officers with an intent to harm, agreeing on Monday to vacate a woman’s convictions because a trial judge’s attempt at defining “harm” was incorrect. Spitting on a first responder could constitute either a…
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Rights of mentally ill defendants under scrutiny of state Supreme Court
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A combination of factors made the case of Ari Misha Liggett unusual, including the crime for which he was convicted: poisoning and dismembering his mother in October 2012. But Liggett is now trying to convince the Colorado Supreme Court the criminal prosecution against him has broader implications for whether mentally ill defendants have a right…
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‘Puffery’ or illegal? State Supreme Court evaluates statements made by Denver energy corporation
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When Jagged Peak Energy Inc. began publicly selling shares of its stock in 2017, it allegedly misrepresented key aspects of its extraction operation to investors and overstated its ability to produce oil and gas. Now, the Colorado Supreme Court will decide whether the 8,000-person Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System may sue Denver-based Jagged Peak…
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Justices clarify standard for establishing identity in previous-offender cases
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Colorado’s Supreme Court has clarified the level of evidence prosecutors must present to establish that a defendant who is charged with possession of a weapon by a previous offender does, in fact, have a prior felony conviction. In its ruling on Monday, the court decided there must be an “essential link” between the defendant and…
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State Supreme Court OK’s forced blood draws for DUI suspects
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By a 6-1 decision on Monday, the Colorado Supreme Court determined state law permits police officers to obtain a warrant and forcibly draw blood from motorists who are suspected solely of driving drunk. Although the law currently enables law enforcement to draw blood in the absence of a warrant and without motorists expressing their consent…
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State Supreme Court mulls how much evidence is enough to prove identity in prior convictions
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An El Paso County jury convicted Enrique Gorostieta in 2019 for possession of a weapon by a prior offender. To determine he was the same Enrique Gorostieta who had a 2016 drug conviction on his record, jurors heard that the name, birthdate and county matched, and they also received a physical description of the defendant…
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State Supreme Court examines whether exclusion of wife from courtroom violated defendants’ rights
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Christopher Nicholas Cruse and Terrel Shameek Turner stood trial together in Arapahoe County in 2017 for the robbery of a marijuana dispensary where Cruse worked. On the third morning of the jury trial, the prosecution informed the trial judge that Cruse’s wife was arrested the prior day for “an encounter” in the hallway with one…
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Fractured Supreme Court finds Adams County defendant did not invoke right to counsel in custody
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In an unusual decision on Tuesday, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled 5-2 that a criminal defendant did not clearly invoke his constitutional right to an attorney during a police interrogation, even though a majority of the justices actually believed the opposite was true. The appeal out of Adams County boiled down to a single moment…
