three strikes
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Colorado Supreme Court confirms ‘3 strikes’ sentences not subject to challenge years afterward
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The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that defendants serving lengthy sentences under the state’s “three strikes” law, and whose convictions have been final for years or decades, do not have the opportunity to argue their punishments are excessive under current standards. Although Colorado’s Habitual Criminal Act has undergone changes since its enactment nearly a century ago,…
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Appeals court declines to open door to challenges of already-final convictions
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday declined to apply a major state Supreme Court decision retroactively and enable more people to challenge their criminal convictions. In 2022, the Supreme Court issued Rojas v. People – a decision that eliminated a “troublesome relic” from the rules of evidence. Known as the “res gestae” doctrine, it enabled prosecutors to introduce evidence…
