Tag: contempt
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Appeals court clarifies path for claiming lawyer was constitutionally ineffective in contempt proceedings
Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday clarified that people who are held in contempt of court do have a way to challenge their convictions based on their lawyer’s allegedly ineffective assistance. The U.S. Supreme Court has long recognized that a convicted defendant may argue their constitutional rights were violated because their attorney’s performance was objectively unreasonable in a…
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Tina Peters’ contempt finding, $1,500 fine over iPad recording overturned by appeals court
Colorado’s second-highest court last week overturned the contempt conviction and $1,500 fine for former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters, concluding a trial judge did not make all the necessary findings that Peters had willfully disobeyed a court order. Peters is currently serving a nine-year sentence after a jury found her guilty this year of attempting…
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Appeals court confused why Arapahoe County magistrate held man in contempt
Colorado’s second-highest court last month overturned a set of decisions finding a man in contempt and subjecting him to potential jail time, with appellate judges concluding an Arapahoe County magistrate reached unclear, unsupported or confused conclusions about the man’s alleged failure to follow the separation agreement with his ex-wife. Todd Russell Lloyd’s marriage ended in…
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Colorado Supreme Court rejects email as method to notify litigants of contempt proceedings
The Colorado Supreme Court clarified on Monday that notifying a litigant via email that they are subject to contempt proceedings is not permitted, although one justice suggested the rules should allow for such a method going forward. Under the procedural rules for civil cases, when a person is subject to contempt of court that does not…
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Appeals court upholds contempt for defendant who destroyed phone rather than hand it over to judge
Colorado’s second-highest court agreed last week that an Arapahoe County judge properly held a criminal defendant in contempt for breaking his own cell phone to avoid handing it over to the judge as directed. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals noted that even if the judge’s attempt to seize the phone was illegal, the…
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Federal judge open to financial penalties after Gunnison landlords continue defying orders
A federal judge on Wednesday appeared to accept that despite going out of his way to accommodate their participation, a trio of Gunnison landlords will continue to disobey his orders and ignore the housing non-discrimination agreement they voluntarily entered into with the government four years ago. At the same time, U.S. District Court Judge Gordon…
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Pitkin County judge wrongly held mother in contempt, appeals court finds
A Pitkin County judge issued a faulty contempt order that revoked a mother’s parenting time for three summers without addressing the required factors, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled earlier this month. After Vanessa Kirianoff-Brown did not transfer custody of her child to her ex-husband over two holiday weekends, he moved to hold her in contempt of…
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Colorado justices show interest in validity of email notification for contempt proceedings
The Colorado Supreme Court has ordered a Larimer County magistrate to explain why she could authorize a party to be notified solely by email about upcoming contempt proceedings. Under the procedural rules for civil cases, when a person is subject to contempt of court, notice must be served “directly” upon them. Andrew Conners, who is…
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Ethics commission issues contempt charge over Hickenlooper’s failure to appear
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Former governor and U.S. Senate candidate John Hickenlooper was held in contempt by the state’s Independent Ethics Commission after refusing to appear for a remote hearing on Thursday that the candidate had attempted for days to delay. The action, unprecedented in the commission’s 13-year history,…