Tag: district attorney
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Colorado Senate committee advances bill to create 29 judgeships, with lawmaker support delicate
The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a bill to establish 29 new Colorado judgeships by a vote of 6-1 on Wednesday, with supporters and opponents both cautioning that their positions could change based on the availability of money. The committee heard testimony from numerous witnesses in support of the bill, including from sitting judges. Chief Justice…
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Colorado Supreme Court intervenes in second Weld County case after botched cell phone search
The Colorado Supreme Court stepped in to do damage control this month in a second Weld County criminal case, following a trial judge’s failure to contain the fallout from a botched cell phone search. Marquise Shadell Daniels and Laura Tellers separately have sought the Supreme Court’s intervention after more than 120 confidential attorney-client communications fell…
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Boulder County prosecutors’ evidence insufficient for attempted murder charges, appeals court agrees
Colorado’s second-highest court agreed last week that Boulder County prosecutors fell short of demonstrating a man likely attempted extreme indifference murder against multiple SWAT officers when he set off an explosion in his hotel room, causing window damage without any injuries. Prosecutors charged Leon Kiyoshi Gladwell with attempted extreme indifference murder. Under Colorado law, a person…
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Colorado justices, by 5-2, reverse sanction on prosecution in Ouray rape case
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday, by 5-2, that a Ouray County judge wrongly prohibited the prosecution from using late-disclosed evidence in a hearing to determine whether probable cause existed to bring the defendant to trial. The court’s majority believed the judge’s failure to explain the basis for the sanction doomed his order. However,…
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‘Uncharted territory’: Colorado Supreme Court wades into murder case involving wrongly disclosed files
The Colorado Supreme Court signaled last week that it may intervene in a Weld County murder case in which a trial judge has struggled to contain the accidental release of confidential defense documents to the prosecution. Marquise Shadell Daniels stands accused of murdering Blaire McQueen in December 2020. In an unusual twist, an investigator for the defense,…
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Colorado Supreme Court tosses Boulder DA’s appeal for failure to follow procedure
Although the Colorado Supreme Court indicated earlier this year that it might intervene in an ongoing Boulder County prosecution implicating a key 2020 police reform law, the justices reversed course last week after realizing the district attorney’s office neglected to follow the correct appellate procedure. Originally, the prosecution sought the Supreme Court’s immediate guidance on…
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Colorado Supreme Court clarifies when defendants may call prosecutors as witnesses
The Colorado Supreme Court clarified on Monday that criminal defendants may only call prosecutors as witnesses when there is a “compelling and legitimate reason,” and a man facing charges in Boulder County had not met that threshold in his case. The justices elected to hear the prosecution’s appeal in the ongoing proceedings against Harold Lloyd…
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‘Pretty shocking’: Colorado justices review case where defendant’s lawyer was also being prosecuted
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court appeared hesitant last week to endorse automatic reversal of an El Paso County defendant’s convictions because he was seemingly unaware his lawyer was simultaneously being prosecuted by the same district attorney’s office. However, some justices agreed the system failed to adequately protect the rights of Matthew Rodolfo Vansant Lopez from…
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Adams County conviction overturned after judge blocked questions about victim’s motive to testify
An Adams County judge blocked jurors from hearing about a victim’s own criminal charge and potential motive to testify the way prosecutors wanted, prompting Colorado’s second-highest court to find a constitutional violation and order a new trial for the defendant. A jury acquitted Semaj Reynolds-Wynn of attempted murder after a 2021 trial, but convicted him…
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Appeals judge trains fire on Colorado Supreme Court’s landmark restitution ruling
One member of Colorado’s second-highest court has mounted an unusual effort in recent weeks to broadcast his dissatisfaction with a state Supreme Court decision that resulted in scores of financial restitution orders to crime victims being overturned on appeal. In Colorado, when a convicted defendant is required to pay restitution, prosecutors typically must provide the…