sexual assault
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10th Circuit, by 2-1, widens ability for governments to be held liable for policymakers’ misconduct
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The federal appeals court based in Denver concluded on Friday that Sedgwick County could itself be held liable for its former sheriff’s sexual assault of a detainee, rejecting the argument that a government policymaker’s personal decision to violate someone’s rights should fall on them alone. Plaintiffs may attempt to hold government entities liable for injuries…
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Colorado Supreme Court takes up cases on Title IX investigations, COVID campus closure
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The Colorado Supreme Court recently agreed to hear multiple cases implicating a witness’ immunity for making defamatory statements in a school sex assault investigation, whether a university can be sued for closing its campus early in the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether a man should receive a new trial for his numerous securities fraud convictions. At…
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Judge expands Trump’s gag order after ex-president’s social media posts about judge’s daughter
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NEW YORK (AP) – The judge in Donald Trump’s April 15 hush-money criminal trial declared his family off-limits to the former president’s rancor on Monday, expanding a gag order days after Trump assailed his daughter and made false claims about her on social media. Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan amended a week-old ban on Trump…
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Douglas County judge let prosecutors present misleading evidence of sex assault, appeals court rules
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A Douglas County judge allowed prosecutors to mislead the jury into thinking they should still convict a man of sexual assault despite the absence of his DNA, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday in overturning the convictions of Clayton Angus Hood. Jurors found Hood guilty of raping a teenage girl who lived in his household.…
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Douglas County judge let prosecutors present misleading evidence of sex assault, appeals court rules
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A Douglas County judge allowed prosecutors to mislead the jury into thinking they should still convict a man of sexual assault despite the absence of his DNA, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday in overturning the convictions of Clayton Angus Hood. Jurors found Hood guilty of raping a teenage girl who lived in his household.…
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Colorado Supreme Court identifies potential red flag in state’s sex offender sentencing law
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The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday suggested the 25-year-old law governing criminal sentences for sex offenders might run afoul of the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment when applied to juveniles serving lengthy terms of incarceration. The ultimate question of whether the Sex Offender Lifetime Supervision Act, or SOLSA, is unconstitutional in the case of…
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Colorado Supreme Court identifies potential red flag in state’s sex offender sentencing law
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The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday suggested the 25-year-old law governing criminal sentences for sex offenders might run afoul of the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment when applied to juveniles serving lengthy terms of incarceration. The ultimate question of whether the Sex Offender Lifetime Supervision Act, or SOLSA, is unconstitutional in the case of…
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Federal judge green-lights trial over Jeffco middle school awash in sexual harassment
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A federal judge last month agreed Jefferson County School District and two administrators will face a civil jury trial for allegedly failing to address the pervasive sexual harassment and assaults that occurred against female students at Everitt Middle School. In a Feb. 21 order, U.S. District Court Senior Judge Christine M. Arguello determined a female…
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Appeals court says trial judges may retroactively justify excluding public from courtrooms
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In a move that potentially tees up the question for the state Supreme Court to resolve, Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday ruled that judges who exclude members of the public from trial on questionable grounds may have the opportunity to justify their actions on appeal. The Sixth Amendment guarantees criminal defendants the right to a…
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Appeals court finds no racial discrimination in jury selection for Weld, Adams County trials
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Colorado’s second-highest court last month concluded prosecutors in Weld and Adams counties did not purposefully remove multiple Hispanic jurors from a pair of criminal trials because of their race or ethnicity. Under longstanding U.S. Supreme Court precedent, intentional race-based discrimination in jury selection is unconstitutional. If a prosecutor tries to dismiss a juror of color,…
