Tag: colorado governmental immunity act
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Appeals court finds Prowers County judge incorrectly analyzed firetruck collision lawsuit
Colorado’s second-highest court directed a Prowers County judge last month to take a second look at whether a firetruck operator and the county itself can be held liable for a collision with a motorist. Donald Williamson was driving through a green light in Lamar when he crashed into a firetruck operated by John Owens Jr.…
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Justices debate what to do when governments withhold key info from plaintiffs
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court seemed to be on different pages when they considered on Tuesday whether a woman injured by a sidewalk defect in Manitou Springs was forever barred from suing the actual entity responsible because she did not learn until it was too late that Colorado Springs was the proper defendant. The…
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Colorado justices skeptical that Colorado Springs is immune to crash caused by faulty signal
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court seemed doubtful on Wednesday that the city of Colorado Springs cannot be sued over a collision that occurred as a result of traffic lights that were functioning normally in one direction, but were inoperative in the perpendicular direction. Construction was occurring at the intersection of South Tejon Street and…
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Appeals court once again denies immunity to Olathe officer for deadly crash
Exactly one year after the Colorado Supreme Court found the state’s second-highest court applied the incorrect standard when evaluating a deadly crash involving an Olathe police officer, the Court of Appeals once again determined the officer and the town are not immune from being sued. The Colorado Governmental Immunity Act generally shields government entities and public…
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Colorado Springs not liable for collision resulting from inoperative traffic light, appeals court says
Colorado’s second-highest court ruled last month that the city of Colorado Springs cannot be held liable for a vehicle crash in which traffic lights were functioning normally in one direction and were inoperative in the perpendicular direction. The Colorado Governmental Immunity Act, with limited exceptions, shields public entities from lawsuits over injuries they cause. Its…
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Appeals judge suggests revising governmental immunity law in response to Manitou Springs’ ‘hide-the-ball’ conduct
A member of the state’s second-highest court has suggested lawmakers revise Colorado’s governmental immunity law to prevent public entities from torpedoing lawsuits by withholding the identity of the actual party responsible for an injury. Last week, a three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals agreed Jaimi J. Mostellar’s lawsuit against Colorado Springs must be dismissed…
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Colorado Supreme Court walks back ruling denying immunity to speeding officer who killed 2
The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday walked back a ruling by the state’s second-highest court that broadened first responders’ liability for injuries, instead concluding emergency vehicle operators need not activate their lights and sirens during the entirety of a pursuit in order to keep their immunity from lawsuits. After an Olathe police officer, traveling in…
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Colorado justices agree Jeffco not immune from parking garage slip-and-fall suit
The Colorado Supreme Court agreed on Monday that a parking garage owned by Jefferson County qualified as a “public building” and a resurfacing project that created a hazard amounted to “maintenance,” which, in combination, meant the county is not immune from liability for a woman’s slip-and-fall. The case implicated the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act, which…