Tag: custody
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Colorado Supreme Court concerned about police overreach in interrogations
Some members of the Colorado Supreme Court appeared hesitant on Tuesday to endorse the ability of police to interrogate a suspect after they have obtained a court order authorizing only the collection of physical evidence. Under Colorado’s criminal rules, law enforcement may obtain an order for “nontestimonial identification,” allowing them to pursue a person’s fingerprints, blood specimen,…
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A jail death in Denver raises questions about intake policies — and how a man with a violent history kept getting released early
On June 30, deputies from the Denver Sheriff Department responded to an overnight call for help in the agency’s Downtown Detention Center. They found a man — later identified as 34-year-old Vincent Chacon — unresponsive in his cell, where he was pronounced dead, the police said in a news release. Police investigators later said the…
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Menacing suspect assaults officer while in custody: Colorado Springs police
A man is in custody on suspicion of menacing and assaulting a Colorado Springs police officer on Saturday, according to an online blotter entry. Cameron Lee Brown, 28, is being held on $25,000 bond at the El Paso County Jail, where he faces felony charges connected with the menacing and assault, police said. At about…
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Appeals court says requirement that parents be ‘present’ during child interrogations does not mean ‘attentive’
Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday that the requirement for parents to be present when police interrogate their child in custody means only that the parent must be “physically present,” not “mentally present” as well. Under the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona, law enforcement is required to inform a suspect of their rights…
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Child home safe in northeast Colorado Springs after leaving in search of parents, police say
A small boy who left his house early Sunday in search of his parents has been safely returned home, Colorado Springs police said. At about 1:55 a.m., officers were dispatched to a convenience store in the 6400 block of Issaquah Drive, near Dublin Boulevard and Marksheffel Road, after a boy, approximately 3 years old, walked…
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Appeals court divided over meaning of judge’s parenting order
Colorado’s second-highest court was split last week over whether to uphold an Arapahoe County judge’s parenting order, with two appellate judges interpreting the language differently than the parties and the third appellate judge. In the underlying case, the county filed a child neglect case on behalf of a 4-year-old girl. At an October 2023 hearing,…
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Colorado justices reverse murder conviction for police interrogation lacking Miranda warning
A woman convicted of murdering her husband in a Moffat County motel room will receive a new trial after the Colorado Supreme Court concluded on Monday that police failed to provide a Miranda warning before interrogating her. Rachel Ann Niemeyer and Michael Adam Freese were intoxicated and handling a rifle when the gun went off and…
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A lifeline inside and outside the courtroom: Colorado’s newly minted legal workers step into arena | COVER STORY
Last month, Chief Justice Brian D. Boatright looked out at the packed courtroom of the Colorado Supreme Court to usher in a historic moment in the state’s 148-year existence. “We are at a point where people need help. And we’re calling in the cavalry,” he said. Boatright proceeded to swear in the first class of…
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Colorado Springs student taken into custody for allegedly bringing gun to school, police say
Colorado Springs police took a student into custody on Monday after learning that he had brought a gun to school, officials said. At about noon on Monday, the Police Department responded to a call about a student with a handgun at Banning Lewis Preparatory Academy, a charter school in the northeast part of the city.…
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Colorado Supreme Court permits Boulder prosecutors to use murder suspect’s statements to police
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that prosecutors in Boulder County may use a murder suspect’s statements to police as evidence because officers did not need to give the defendant a Miranda warning prior to asking about all of the blood on him. Brandon Mason Bohler stands accused of first-degree murder for fatally stabbing…