Author: Christopher N. Osher
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Drug felony cases double in 6 years in Colorado, calls for less prison time and more treatment revived
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Colorado prosecutors filed more than 15,200 felony drug cases in 2017, twice as many as they did in 2012, according to a new report that has prompted renewed calls for sentencing reforms that send low-level drug…
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Colorado pairing police officers with mental health experts
DENVER — Colorado is pushing for new approaches to how police officers handle cases involving mental illness and drug addiction, encouraging them to steer low-level offenders toward treatment rather than jail and giving them assistance in dealing with potentially dangerous situations. In one tactic, mental health professionals ride with officers during 911 responses and some…
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Many Colorado prosecutors say rise in felony crime coincides with more lenient prison terms
Felony criminal filings across Colorado increased by nearly 50 percent in the past five years, prompting concerns that recent criminal justice reforms are letting dangerous individuals roam the streets. Prosecutors and state officials still are trying to identify the causes for the swifter pace of felony filings. State statistics indicate that a recent surge in…
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Is 96 years for $8,800 in forged checks fair? Critics say Colorado’s law is too tough on non-violent offenders
The crime that consigned Marion Jetton to a sentence of nearly a century in prison wasn’t all that salacious or particularly heinous. Convicted killers have received far less prison time in Colorado, where the sentencing guidelines allow a person guilty of second-degree murder to be sentenced to as little as eight years in prison. A…
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Critics: Oil driller hired guards to prevent them from attending meetings
Crestone Peak Resources promised state regulators it would hold public meetings with residents affected by the company’s plans to drill at least 180 wells on the eastern edge of Boulder County, but public officials and activists say the company purposefully excluded many critics of the drilling plans from those meetings. In the face of mounting…
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Denver police officer injured trying to stop motorcyclists who entered bike race route
A Denver police officer was injured Saturday afternoon after trying to stop four motorcyclists who rode onto a closed bicycle race route for the Colorado Classic at Speer Boulevard and Zuni Street, according to the Denver Police Department. One motorcyclist was injured and transported to a hospital when his motorcycle collided with the officer, who…
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Lawsuit filed in wake of Firestone explosion seeks damages from producers, as well as developers and builders
A lawsuit filed on Monday by homeowners seeks damages from natural gas producers and housing developers for the recent fatal home explosion in Firestone. The lawsuit was filed on behalf Jeffrey and Karla Baum and their three children, who reside on Twilight Avenue in Firestone, the same street where a home exploded on April 17.…
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Colorado’s pricey polygraph testing of sex offenders under fire as critics target accuracy, expense
Colorado has spent more than $5 million to administer polygraphs on convicted sex offenders over the last seven years despite concerns that the tests are so unreliable they can’t be used as evidence during civil or criminal trials. Polygraphs help officials decide which prisoners convicted of sex offenses are suited for release from prison by…
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Sex offenders see stringent parenting rules relaxed in Colorado, prompting debate over child safety
Colorado’s sex offenders have long maintained the state treats them as pariahs, closely monitoring where they live, what they look at, who they talk to and what they discuss. One claimed in federal court filings that he was warned against keeping a crucifix because it displayed partial nudity. Another, convicted of groping a woman, said he…
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Only one staff member convicted after thousands of incident complaints at Pueblo center for disabled
Residents at a state-run center in Pueblo for the severely intellectually disabled were subjected to sexual assaults and ongoing physical abuse and neglect from 2012 to early 2016. Incidents ranging from patient discomfort to more severe allegations of abuse were reported at a rate of about 150 each month to the center’s staff during that time, according…