terry fox
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Appeals court overturns assault conviction for lack of evidence defendant was ‘in custody’
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Pueblo County prosecutors failed to prove a defendant was “in custody” at the time she allegedly assaulted a sheriff’s deputy, the state’s Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday in overturning the conviction. Alicia Antonia Martinez is serving a six-year sentence for allegedly striking a deputy with her vehicle as she evaded law enforcement. Prosecutors charged…
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Colorado justices to consider financial penalties on lawyers, notice for evictions under COVID rules
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The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will hear an appeal implicating the ability of law firms to financially penalize their attorneys for leaving for another job and taking clients with them. The justices also signaled they will decide whether a federal law enacted during the early COVID-19 pandemic still requires certain landlords…
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Colorado Supreme Court accepts 2 cases on capital punishment, racially-biased juror
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The Colorado Supreme Court agreed to hear two criminal appeals on Monday that question whether defendants are entitled to bail for crimes that formerly qualified for a death sentence, and whether a Black man convicted in an overwhelmingly white county deserves a new trial because one juror admitted he “didn’t want diversity.” At least three…
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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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$10,000 contribution to county commissioner did not require recusal, appeals court says
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A Larimer County judge was wrong to conclude a county commissioner needed to recuse himself from a land-use vote in which one of the parties was responsible for nearly 20% of his campaign contributions, the state’s Court of Appeals has ruled. District Court Judge Juan G. Villaseñor believed Coulson Excavating Company, Inc. had effectively chosen its own judge…
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Weld County judge violated law with serial restitution orders, appeals court finds
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A Weld County judge violated the state’s law on restitution when he repeatedly increased the amount of money owed to the victim years after the defendant’s conviction, Colorado’s second-highest court has found. Under the law, judges are permitted to sentence defendants to pay financial restitution to their victims in the future to cover therapy or…
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Appeals court rebuffs challenge from environmental groups, says state met greenhouse gas responsibility
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Contrary to the allegations of a pair of environmental groups, state agencies satisfied the legal deadline for proposing rules aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the next three decades, Colorado’s second-highest court concluded on Thursday. The Environmental Defense Fund and WildEarth Guardians sought a judicial declaration that Colorado had blown past the cutoff date the legislature…
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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…
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Appeals court reverses convictions after El Paso judge denied fair trial to defendant
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An El Paso County judge misapplied the law and allowed harmful information to be heard at the defendant’s trial, Colorado’s second-highest court concluded last week in reversing the convictions of Israel Santillan Lopez. Further, the prosecution acknowledged Lopez was correct that District Court Judge Marcus Henson also omitted a key element of the crime of felony…
