Tag: judge eric bentley
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Hallfords plead guilty to state charges, Carie Hallford back in custody
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Return to Nature Funeral Home owners Jon and Carie Hallford pleaded guilty in state court on Friday to 190 counts of abuse of a corpse, leaving the couple facing a potential 20-year prison sentence. The funeral home in Penrose, about 35 miles southwest of Colorado…
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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 justices skeptical of animal rights group’s attempt to free Cheyenne Mountain Zoo elephants
An animal rights group faced a critical reception from the Colorado Supreme Court on Thursday, with the justices doubting they could recognize the legal rights of five elephants in Colorado Springs without also opening the floodgates for widespread attempts to release numerous species from captivity. “Half the people in this room have dogs or cats…
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Appeals court finds numerous errors in 2 Mesa, El Paso County trials but upholds convictions
Colorado’s second-highest court determined last week that numerous errors, including prosecutorial misconduct, pervaded a pair of criminal trials, but the missteps were not severe enough to warrant reversal of the defendants’ convictions. In El Paso County, jurors convicted Daniel Caleb Schwenk of assault and menacing, but could not reach consensus on an attempted murder charge.…
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El Paso County sex assault conviction overturned after judge misapplied law
Colorado’s second-highest court reversed a man’s sexual assault conviction last month after finding an El Paso County judge applied the wrong legal standard when assessing whether the defendant was competent to stand trial. Prosecutors charged Micheal Cochran with numerous sex-related offenses, but his defense attorney became concerned that Cochran was struggling to understand the charges,…
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Appeals court clarifies standards for no-contact orders involving children
Colorado’s second-highest court clarified last month that judges need to account for certain factors when deciding whether to loosen a defendant’s no-contact order against a child, and an El Paso County judge did not consider the proper criteria when refusing to modify the restrictions. Under state law, judges impose protection orders, also known as restraining…