sixth amendment
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Colorado Supreme Court to hear 2 cases on pandemic-era trial livestreaming
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Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic first took hold in Colorado, the state Supreme Court announced on Monday it will review the constitutionality of two judges’ decisions to bar spectators from their courtrooms and instead rely upon livestreaming during a pair of criminal trials. At least three of the court’s seven members must agree to hear…
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No constitutional right to plead guilty, appeals court says in upholding El Paso County convictions
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An El Paso County judge was not constitutionally obligated to accept a defendant’s guilty plea, Colorado’s second-highest court concluded last week. Appealing his convictions, Timothy Ray Scott Jr. argued his trial judge violated his constitutional right to “autonomy” by not letting him plead guilty. The U.S. Supreme Court has previously interpreted the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of…
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Divided appeals court upholds Denver child sex assault conviction
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Colorado’s second-highest court upheld a man’s sex assault conviction earlier this month, although there was disagreement between appellate judges about whether jurors properly evaluated damaging evidence of the defendant’s conduct in light of his unusual defense at trial. A Denver jury convicted Mohammed Diawarra in 2021 for sexual assault on a child after he impregnated an…
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Appeals court declares automatic reversal not required after Jeffco judge forgot to swear in jurors
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For the first time on Thursday, Colorado’s second-highest court determined a criminal defendant’s convictions are not subject to automatic reversal if a trial judge neglects to swear in the jury. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals noted the U.S. Supreme Court has never explicitly recognized the constitutional right to a sworn jury. Although…
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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 upholds ejection of disruptive observer from livestream of criminal trial
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Colorado’s second-highest court clarified last month that ejecting a disruptive observer from the livestream of a criminal trial will not typically violate the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of a public trial. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals considered for the first time whether a Weld County judge effectively “closed” his courtroom mid-trial by banning…
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Federal judge finds constitutional violation in Aurora ‘Labor Day Massacre’ murder trial
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A federal judge last week agreed a man convicted more than 20 years ago for a series of Aurora murders known as the “Labor Day Massacre” had his constitutional rights violated when prosecutors played for jurors unreliable statements from a second homicide suspect. U.S. District Court Judge Nina Y. Wang made the unusual finding that…
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Gilpin County judge who kicked out defendant’s family committed public trial violation, court finds
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A Gilpin County judge who ejected the defendant’s family and other observers from his courtroom and told them to watch the livestream from elsewhere in the courthouse violated the defendant’s constitutional right to a public trial, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled last week. Michelle Re Nae Bialas was on trial for the second time when some…
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‘The law is the law’: Conifer students experience real appellate cases, quiz judges
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For a select group of attorneys who argued their cases before Colorado’s Court of Appeals on Tuesday, the experience was different in two key ways: First, they traded the ornate courtrooms of downtown Denver for the picturesque foothills 30 miles to the west. Second, the most pointed questioning did not necessarily come from the court.…
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Former public defenders offer crash course on rights: Remain silent when interacting with cops
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On a Saturday morning in Aurora, more than a dozen audience members – mostly people of color – received a crash course in how to interact with police without compromising any constitutional protections. The overarching message: You have the right to remain silent, and you should use it. “The idea of talking yourself out of something is…
