sentencing
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Colorado Supreme Court tiptoes around prior edict forbidding prison plus probation
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Five years ago, the Colorado Supreme Court interpreted state law to prohibit judges from imposing a sentence of prison plus probation in a single criminal case. But on Wednesday, the justices appeared to endorse the idea that judges could resentence affected defendants in a fashion that preserves the same — illegal — punishment. In its 2019 decision…
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Colorado justices skeptical of opening door to resentencing defendants under ‘3 strikes’ law
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Members of the Colorado Supreme Court gave an icy reception on Tuesday to the idea that defendants convicted decades ago and serving lengthy sentences under the state’s “three strikes” law should have the opportunity to argue their punishments are grossly disproportionate under current standards. Although Colorado’s Habitual Criminal Act has undergone changes since its enactment…
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‘There’s a different weight that I feel’: Kato Crews speaks about first 6 months as federal district judge
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When President Joe Biden appointed S. Kato Crews as a federal trial judge in January, Crews was no stranger to Colorado’s U.S. District Court. He had served as a magistrate judge on the same court for more than five years. On Wednesday, Crews told an audience of attorneys at the Alfred A. Arraj U.S. Courthouse…
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10th Circuit finds trial judge erred in sentencing duo who fraudulently sold body parts
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A trial judge incorrectly calculated the sentences of a mother and daughter who pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining and selling body parts as part of an eight-year scheme, the federal appeals court based in Denver ruled on Tuesday. Megan Hess operated Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors in Montrose, catering to customers seeking cremation as well as medical-research…
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Appeals court rebuffs Alamosa County judge for flippant denial of sentence reduction
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An Alamosa County judge’s single-sentence explanation denying a defendant’s request for a sentence reduction – that it was “not well taken” – was itself not well taken by Colorado’s second-highest court. Prosecutors originally charged Desiree Lee Espinoza with multiple serious offenses, including attempted murder and assault. She pleaded guilty to kidnaping and received a 16-year prison sentence…
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Federal judge says ‘hands are tied,’ cannot resentence defendants under drug reform law
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A federal judge last month told two men serving life sentences that her “hands are tied” and she cannot reduce their prison terms, even in the face of recent federal legislation addressing the historical disparities in punishment for cases involving crack cocaine. U.S. District Court Judge Regina M. Rodriguez denied the resentencing requests from Lee…
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Divided appeals court upholds defendant’s longer sentence for not saying ‘sorry’
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday upheld an Adams County judge’s decision to give a defendant five more years in prison solely because he did not tell the judge he was sorry. By 2-1, a three judge panel for the Court of Appeals agreed that under certain circumstances, a defendant’s silence at sentencing cannot be used…
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Appeals court says judge, DA, corrections agency could blow past deadlines, still send man to prison
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Colorado’s second-highest court determined last month that an Arapahoe County judge, prosecutors and corrections officials could disregard the deadlines in state law and still have the ability to send a youthful offender to prison. The state’s Youthful Offender System enables defendants who were at least 18 at the time of their criminal offense but younger…
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10th Circuit rejects claim that judge sentenced man ‘in advance’
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A judge in Colorado did not improperly sentence a man “in advance” when he promised the type of consequence he would impose for a repeat offense and then followed through on that promise, the federal appeals court based in Denver ruled on Monday. Maitise Crews, who has a lengthy criminal history, is serving a 21-month…
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10th Circuit orders resentencing for brutal assault after judge’s error
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Although the federal appeals court based in Denver rejected nearly all arguments from a man convicted of brutally beating his wife into unconsciousness, it conceded the trial judge had improperly sentenced him at a higher level than guidelines allow. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit vacated the 30-year…
