search and seizure
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Lakewood police acted unconstitutionally in using drug detection dog, Supreme Court rules by 5-2
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Lakewood police violated the constitutional prohibition on unreasonable searches by ensuring a driver’s door remained open so a drug detection dog could sniff inside the vehicle without probable cause, the Colorado Supreme Court concluded on Monday. In the 5-2 decision, all justices agreed with the principle that law enforcement conducts a search if they “facilitate”…
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Appeals court rules Denver ordinance’s constitutionality has no bearing on lawfulness of arrest
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Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday that regardless of whether a plaintiff could later show Denver’s ordinance was unconstitutional, arresting officers were acting with probable cause at the time and could not be held liable. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals pointed to a 1979 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that indicated…
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Colorado Supreme Court says license plate corresponding to other vehicle is grounds for stopping driver
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An Adams County deputy’s discovery that the license plates on a vehicle were registered to another car provided him the reasonable suspicion required to detain the driver, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday. However, the justices stopped short of deeming the subsequent vehicle search constitutional, as the trial judge had not yet evaluated whether…
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Federal judge dismisses man’s claims against Jeffco SWAT officers for home raid
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A federal judge last month dismissed a man’s claims that Jefferson County SWAT team members violated his constitutional rights by forcefully entering his home with little warning, damaging the apartment and removing him half-naked while they executed a search warrant. Lance P. Schendorf is serving a 20-year prison sentence after a jury convicted him in…
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Federal judge allows man to sue Aurora officer for alleged accidental discharge of gun
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A federal judge last week declined to dismiss a man’s excessive force claim against an Aurora police officer, who fired his gun in what the city alleged to be an accidental discharge. This spring, Arapahoe County jurors found Eugene Robertson guilty of numerous attempted murder charges. However, while he was incarcerated pending trial, Robertson filed suit against…
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Colorado Supreme Court ponders constitutionality of delayed vehicle search
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Members of the Colorado Supreme Court suggested on Wednesday that Denver police could have moved more rapidly to obtain a search warrant for a man’s vehicle, but at the same time they doubted the delay amounted to a constitutional violation. A trial judge previously barred prosecutors from using evidence of narcotics found in Arthur Mills’…
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Jeffco murder conviction overturned after appeals court finds police unconstitutionally accessed cell phone
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A man serving a life sentence for murder will receive a new trial after Colorado’s second-highest court concluded last week that law enforcement unconstitutionally used a “shortcut” to unlock his phone in time for his original trial. In reaching its conclusion, a three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals rejected the idea that a cell…
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10th Circuit says no constitutional violation from Denver officers’ warrantless search of storage unit
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Denver police officers did not violate a man’s constitutional rights with their warrantless search of a storage locker he had been using without authorization in his apartment building, the federal appeals court based in Colorado ruled last month. Although the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit emphasized its Sept. 20 opinion hinged on specific shortcomings…
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Mesa County animal cruelty convictions overturned for officer’s unconstitutional search
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Colorado’s second-highest court determined on Thursday that a Mesa County animal control officer gathered evidence of a cruelty offense from a woman’s property in violation of the Fourth Amendment, necessitating a new trial. The constitutional prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures generally requires police to obtain a warrant or else rely on an established exception…
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Boulder man’s attempted sex assault convictions overturned due to detectives’ actions
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A Boulder man will receive a new trial after Colorado’s second-highest court determined last month that a pair of detectives improperly detained and interrogated him about an attempted sex assault instead of simply collecting his DNA as a court authorized them to do. Angel Adrian Castro-Velasquez is serving 18 years to life in prison on…