Author: Michael Karlik
-
Appeals court orders new murder trial for teen after judge blocked self-defense evidence
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Colorado’s second-highest court overturned a defendant’s murder conviction last week after concluding an Arapahoe County judge wrongly barred evidence suggesting the man acted in self-defense. There was no dispute that 18-year-old Joseph Dean McCaughin shot and killed 16-year-old Ryan Robertson in Aurora in May 2019.…
-
Lakewood must release police body cam footage of teen’s fatal shooting, appeals court rules
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Colorado’s second-highest court ruled last week that Lakewood is obligated to release body-worn camera footage of police fatally shooting a 17-year-old girl, notwithstanding her surviving family’s objections. A three-judge Court of Appeals panel interpreted a key transparency requirement in Colorado’s landmark police accountability law from…
-
Federal judge dismisses claims against Avon police sergeant for jail detainee’s suicide
A federal judge last week dismissed the claims against an Avon police sergeant who transported a suicidal man to the Eagle County jail, as part of a broader lawsuit over the man’s death in custody. The lawsuit, brought by the surviving father of Ian David Lockhart, described multiple occasions in the first months of 2023…
-
Federal judge sides with CU in former student’s retaliation lawsuit
A federal judge concluded last month that a former University of Colorado medical student failed to establish the school unlawfully retaliated against her, as the evidence instead showed faculty raised numerous concerns about her conduct over the years. Mindy Szeto was enrolled in CU’s School of Medicine between 2014 and 2020, through a program combining…
-
Appeals court rules harsher sentence after appeal does not mean judge was ‘vindictive’
Colorado’s second-highest court ruled last week that a Jefferson County judge subjected a man to a harsher sentence following a successful appeal because the parole eligibility date was pushed back by multiple years, but that fact alone did not mean the judge acted “vindictively.” In 2015, the state Supreme Court noted that when a criminal…
-
Following 10th Circuit reversal, federal judge agrees man may sue Douglas County child caseworker
After the Denver-based federal appeals court found she improperly dismissed the lawsuit, a federal judge last week agreed that a father’s claims may proceed against a Douglas County child welfare worker who allegedly violated his constitutional rights while investigating suspected child abuse. Originally, U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney dismissed the due process and…
-
Federal judge allows Aurora protest leader to sue city, detective over prosecution
A federal judge last week declined to dismiss a malicious prosecution lawsuit against the city of Aurora and one of its detectives, brought by a 2020 protest leader who alleged there was no probable cause to arrest her. Eliza Lucero was involved in a protest outside an Aurora Police Department station in July 2020. She…
-
Federal judge grants immunity to Colorado Springs paramedic, officer for man’s death
A federal judge has concluded that a Colorado Springs paramedic and police officer could not be held liable for their roles in restraining a man in mental health crisis, leading to his death. U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney determined Sean Reed and Nick Fischer were entitled to qualified immunity, which is a judicial…
-
Federal judge declines to award attorney fees in ‘very weak’ voter intimidation case
A federal judge agreed last week that three civic organizations presented a “very weak” voter intimidation case to her last year, but it was not so baseless as to award the defendants attorney fees after they prevailed at trial. Last July, U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney concluded the organizers of an “election integrity”…
-
Colorado House Judiciary Committee advances bill to add 15 judges
Colorado’s House Judiciary Committee advanced a bill to establish 15 new judgeships throughout the state by a vote of 9-2 on Tuesday. Senate Bill 24 is the Judicial Department’s top priority this year. As originally proposed, it would have added 26 judge seats in the trial courts and three seats on the Court of Appeals. The numbers…