steve bernard
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State Supreme Court weighs whether new trial necessary for school that deceived, harmed students
After a four-week trial in 2017, a Denver judge issued a 160-page order detailing the numerous ways a now-shuttered technical school violated Colorado’s consumer protection laws by deceiving students into thinking they would make substantially more money or find jobs in their field – when the opposite was often true. But in 2021, the state’s Court…
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State Supreme Court agrees to hear case of backpack search that turned up loaded gun
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine whether Denver school officials acted lawfully when they searched a student’s backpack, ultimately uncovering a loaded handgun. The justices also narrowly turned down a second appeal out of Denver involving the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act to child welfare proceedings. Granting an appeal requires…
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Denver judge wrongly terminated cognitively-impaired mother’s parental rights, appeals court says
In a case involving domestic violence, homelessness and a special-needs child, Colorado’s second-highest court determined a Denver judge wrongly terminated a cognitively-impaired woman’s parental rights based on inaccurate findings about her disability. By 2-1, a three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals concluded the facts did not support Juvenile Court Judge Laurie A. Clark’s determination…
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Appeals court agrees lighting person on fire counts as arson
Colorado’s second-highest court has weighed in for the first time on whether it is arson to light fire to a person’s clothes while they are wearing them – and the answer is yes. John Anthony Vasquez is serving a lifetime sentence after a jury found him guilty of murder for setting fire to Christina Archuleta-Blasier…
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Appeals court reverses Cortez man’s conviction for judge’s failure to give home defense instruction
There was enough evidence to support the theory that Shane Dean Darrell French was acting in defense of his home when he threatened his parole officer, Colorado’s second-highest court determined last week. Therefore, a Montezuma County judge acted improperly by failing to instruct the jury about the state’s home defense law. By a 2-1 decision,…
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Split appeals court rules Aurora police needed to give Miranda warning to road rage suspect
Colorado’s second-highest court has reversed a man’s assault convictions in Arapahoe County because police failed to provide a Miranda warning at the point when their interrogation effectively placed the defendant in custody. A panel of the Court of Appeals decided, by 2-1, that while Aurora police did not need to advise Terrence Kenneth Eugene of…
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Appeals court says prominent civil rights lawyer may be held liable for public statements
A prominent civil rights law firm in Colorado may be held liable for the public statements of one of its lawyers, the state’s Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday, determining that the First Amendment does not provide a blanket shield for attorneys to make defamatory comments to the media. Counsel for Killmer, Lane & Newman…