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By 2-1, appeals court reverses Denver murder conviction based on procedural blunder
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A man serving a life sentence for a brutal Denver murder will receive a new trial after Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday that the original trial judge, prosecutor and defense attorney failed to notice a key witness was never formally authorized as an expert. By 2-1, a panel of the Court of Appeals reversed…
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Appeals court clarifies Fifth Amendment rights of sex offense probationers
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Colorado’s second-highest court clarified last week that if a defendant on sex-offender probation refuses to accept responsibility for his crime as a condition of treatment, the Fifth Amendment’s protection against self-incrimination may prohibit a judge from revoking his probation as a punishment. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals specified that its decision applied…
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Appeals court forges ahead on child prostitution question after Supreme Court takes a pass
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Weighing in on a question the Colorado Supreme Court recently left for “another day,” the state’s Court of Appeals decided last week that prosecutors need only prove a defendant knowingly arranges for a child’s prostitution and not that he specifically intends for the child to be prostituted. In addressing the subtle, but meaningful, distinction, a…
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Fast food workers’ wage claims can proceed as class action in 3 cases, appeals court says
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Colorado’s Court of Appeals determined last week that three lawsuits against fast food chains may proceed, in part, as class actions – meaning potentially thousands of workers across dozens of stores could benefit monetarily if wage violations are proven. In cases arising out of Denver, El Paso County and southwest Colorado, a three-judge panel of the…
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Appeals court dismisses dentist’s defamation lawsuit against woman who left negative reviews
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Colorado’s second-highest court has dismissed a dentist’s defamation lawsuit against a Crestone woman who left him negative reviews following her unsatisfactory root canals, basing its ruling on a recently-enacted state law designed to block meritless lawsuits involving First Amendment activity. Creekside Endodontics of Lone Tree and its dentist, Andrew Stubbs, sued former patient Kathryn Sullivan…
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State Supreme Court wades through rules on child testimony in sex assault cases
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Out-of-court statements, known as hearsay, are typically not admissible at trial because a defendant cannot cross-examine the person making the comments. However, Colorado’s legislature has provided an exception for children in sex abuse cases. Their hearsay statements are allowed generally if they are younger than 15 or, in the alternative, whatever age is specifically mentioned…
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Appeals court tosses conviction, 32-year sentence after trial judge violated speedy trial right
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Colorado’s second-highest court has overturned a man’s convictions for attempted murder and other offenses, and permanently barred prosecutors from retrying him because a Denver judge violated his right to a speedy trial. The U.S. and Colorado constitutions guarantee criminal defendants the right to a speedy trial, which Colorado law mandates to occur within six months…
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Appeals court finds Fremont County judge wrongfully excluded evidence of prison culture from trial
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A Fremont County judge wrongly excluded expert testimony about prison culture from a criminal trial, including an inmate’s incentive not to “snitch,” the state’s Court of Appeals ruled last week. Because the testimony would have cast doubt on the defendant’s confession to possessing contraband in prison, the appellate court ordered a new trial for Jeremy…
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When it comes to child neglect, what does ‘homeless’ mean?
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Colorado’s second-highest court has reversed a Delta County judge’s finding of child neglect, partly because it was unclear whether two children who lived in a tent met the definition of homeless. Being homeless is one of the conditions in Colorado law under which a court can deem a child dependent or neglected, a finding that…
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Appeals court grants new trial to man who represented self in Adams County
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Although the prosecution, the trial judge and even one of the defendant’s own lawyers believed Scott Daniels Barkley was manipulating his criminal case, the state’s Court of Appeals overturned his convictions last week after taking issue with Barkley’s representation of himself at trial. There is a constitutional right to counsel in criminal cases, but a…
