weld county
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Colorado justices decline to expand judges’ authority to second-guess medical malpractice awards
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The Colorado Supreme Court rejected a hospital’s argument on Monday that judges have broad authority to recalculate a jury’s monetary award to plaintiffs injured by medical malpractice. Under state law, damages in medical malpractice lawsuits are generally capped at $1 million as part of a 1988 policy change intended to curb the costs of medicine…
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Federal judge finds fire chief violated due process rights of ex-employee in Boulder-Weld district
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A federal judge concluded last week that the chief of a fire protection district spanning Boulder and Weld counties violated the constitutional rights of an employee by terminating him through a process that lacked sufficient procedural protections. However, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Philip A. Brimmer also determined plaintiff Benjamin Carter could not prevail on…
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Appeals court agrees Lochbuie cannot challenge alleged lack of services from library district
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Colorado’s second-highest court concluded last week that the town of Lochbuie cannot challenge the alleged lack of services its residents are receiving from a Weld County library district that has been in existence for four decades. However, a three-judge Court of Appeals panel rejected a trial judge’s decision to impose attorney fees on Lochbuie for…
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Colorado man released under competency law arrested again with gun on college campus
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A man at the center of a growing debate around Colorado’s competency laws has been arrested less than a month after he was released from jail following the dismissal of an attempted murder charge. Ephraim Debisa, 21, who has also been referred to as Debisa Ephraim, was arrested earlier this week for allegedly bringing a…
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Republican state lawmaker Barb Kirkmeyer set to launch campaign for Colorado governor
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Republican state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer filed paperwork Monday to run to be Colorado’s next governor, making the Brighton lawmaker’s long-anticipated campaign official. Kirkmeyer, who lost a close race for Congress in 2022, plans to make a formal announcement Tuesday evening in Fort Lupton, her campaign said in a release. The 66-year-old dairy farmer and fourth-generation…
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Colorado justices, 5-2, say police money used for drug deals not subject to crime victim restitution
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The Colorado Supreme Court, by 5-2, ruled on Monday that the state’s crime victim restitution law does not obligate defendants to repay law enforcement agencies for unrecovered money they use to buy drugs undercover. The government maintained the restitution law authorized the repayment of “buy money” because it was either “money advanced by law enforcement…
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Appeals court reverses Weld County robbery convictions due to unreliable witness ID
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Colorado’s second-highest court reversed a defendant’s convictions out of Weld County last week, concluding the victim’s identification was unreliable and may have been the product of police influence. In August 2019, a teenage pizza delivery driver was leaving his job. Just after he closed the door to his vehicle, a man opened it, told the…
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‘Weird,’ ‘confusing,’ ‘disheartening’: Colorado Supreme Court under fire over racial bias proposal
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Several members of a Colorado Supreme Court advisory committee aired their frustration last week after the justices announced they had reached consensus on a proposal to combat racial discrimination in jury selection — by substantially watering down the protections built into the original draft. The Supreme Court took the unusual step of asking its Rules of…
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Ex-Lochbuie officer’s rights not violated with disclosure of misconduct finding, appeals court rules
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Colorado’s second-highest court concluded last month that a former law enforcement officer cannot sue his employer under one police accountability law for reporting its misconduct finding to another agency, as required under a different police accountability law. Officer Michael Oliveira sued leaders of the Lochbuie Police Department under Senate Bill 217, also known as the Enhance Law…
