Tag: judge neeti pawar
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Colorado Supreme Court takes up cases on severity of vehicular homicide, disclosure of child abuse reports
The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday it will hear cases addressing the severity of sentences for vehicular homicide caused by intoxication and the level of information about child abuse reports that can be disclosed in open records requests. At least three of the seven justices must agree to take up an appeal. ‘Grave and…
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Boulder man’s attempted sex assault convictions overturned due to detectives’ actions
A Boulder man will receive a new trial after Colorado’s second-highest court determined last month that a pair of detectives improperly detained and interrogated him about an attempted sex assault instead of simply collecting his DNA as a court authorized them to do. Angel Adrian Castro-Velasquez is serving 18 years to life in prison on…
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Colorado justices skeptical Aurora officer committed Miranda violation on road rage suspect
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court appeared skeptical last week that a road rage suspect was “in custody” at the time an Aurora police officer interrogated him, as the state’s second-highest court believed was the case. Under the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Miranda v. Arizona, police must inform a suspect of their rights to…
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Colorado justices narrowly uphold IP-based search warrant, decline to adopt broader rule
The Colorado Supreme Court upheld as constitutional on Monday a warrant that permitted Clear Creek County sheriff’s personnel to search a man’s laptop for child pornography, even though he lived in a unit separate from the target residence and law enforcement was focusing on a different suspect the day of the visit. Previously, four lower…
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Colorado justices agree school district co-ops cannot locate facilities outside borders without consent
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that cooperative associations of school boards lack the power to open facilities outside their boundaries in school districts that do not consent to the placement. Under Colorado law, boards of cooperative services, or BOCES, allow for school districts to band together and contract for additional services among their…
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Colorado justices vent about difficulty of evaluating racial bias in jury selection
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court last week expressed frustration with the difficulties of pinpointing unconstitutional racial bias in jury selection, especially when relatively few details are available after the fact about what happened at trial. “We’re trying to guess what’s in someone’s mind, someone’s heart, even when they may not be aware of it,…
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Appeals court agrees RTD not responsible for $111.5 million in costs from faulty rail line rollout
Colorado’s second-highest court agreed on Thursday that the contractor responsible for building and operating the recent expansion of the Regional Transportation District’s rail network cannot recover more than $100 million from RTD for the extended period in which grade crossing systems malfunctioned. Denver Transit Partners and RTD engaged in a public-private partnership to construct a…
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Appeals court reverses stalking conviction after Douglas County judge violated right to counsel
A Douglas County judge violated the rules of criminal procedure and the Sixth Amendment’s right to counsel when she allowed a defense attorney to withdraw, did not seek input from the defendant and did not evaluate the necessity of the withdrawal, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday. Shari Leigh Dooley ended up representing herself at trial,…
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Colorado justices skeptical of education co-ops’ ability to locate schools outside boundaries
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court gave a chilly reception on Tuesday to the idea that school boards, when organized into regional cooperatives to provide educational services, may locate facilities outside their boundaries over the objection of a local district. Under Colorado law, boards of cooperative services, or BOCES, allow for school districts to band…
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Divided appeals court upholds Denver child sex assault conviction
Colorado’s second-highest court upheld a man’s sex assault conviction earlier this month, although there was disagreement between appellate judges about whether jurors properly evaluated damaging evidence of the defendant’s conduct in light of his unusual defense at trial. A Denver jury convicted Mohammed Diawarra in 2021 for sexual assault on a child after he impregnated an…