Tag: judge rebecca freyre
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Colorado justices block injured plaintiff from suing, despite alleged concealment by Manitou Springs
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a woman injured on a Manitou Springs sidewalk could not sue the allegedly responsible entity, the city of Colorado Springs, even though she did not learn until too late of an agreement that made the city liable for the defective infrastructure. Jaimi J. Mostellar argued that Manitou…
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Colorado Supreme Court accepts cases about reliability of gun-to-bullet matching
The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will hear two cases questioning the reliability of expert testimony that purports to identify whether a specific bullet was fired from a specific gun. At least three of the court’s seven members must agree to take up a case on appeal. There is currently one vacancy,…
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Appeals court decides violations of child custody orders may be prosecuted per child
Colorado’s second-highest court concluded for the first time on Wednesday that a defendant may be charged with violating a child custody order based on the number of children affected, not the number of orders violated. Mesa County jurors convicted Tiffany Jean Wilson on four counts of violating a custody order. She drove off with her…
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Justices debate what to do when governments withhold key info from plaintiffs
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court seemed to be on different pages when they considered on Tuesday whether a woman injured by a sidewalk defect in Manitou Springs was forever barred from suing the actual entity responsible because she did not learn until it was too late that Colorado Springs was the proper defendant. The…
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Colorado justices consider whether man can be convicted for convincing mom to lie for him
There was no dispute that Michael Thomas Hupke asked his mother to lie to his parole officer on his behalf. Further, Hupke acknowledged Mesa County prosecutors could have charged him as an accomplice to his mother’s deceit, or for soliciting her to do it. But Hupke maintained prosecutors could not do what they actually did:…
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Appeals court finds no discrimination in dismissals of jurors of color across 3 cases
Colorado’s second-highest court recently agreed prosecutors did not unconstitutionally remove jurors of color in three criminal cases for racial reasons. The Court of Appeals encountered significant variation in how the trial judges approached the prosecution’s dismissal of each juror. One judge explained the circumstances at length, one judge gave virtually no explanation and the third…
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Colorado justices weigh constitutional implications of livestreaming criminal trials
With the Sixth Amendment guaranteeing criminal defendants the right to a public trial, members of the Colorado Supreme Court grappled on Tuesday with a question that may have never arisen without a global pandemic: If a judge requires spectators to watch the trial remotely, is there a constitutional violation? In a pair of cases stemming…
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Colorado justices to hear cases on defendant who blamed mom, car rental companies as insurers
The Colorado Supreme Court announced last week that it will analyze whether a person can be convicted of attempting to influence a public servant when they enlist another party to perform the deceit, and whether vehicle rental companies can be held legally liable as insurers when they choose to offer insurance policies. At least three…
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Appeals court reverses sex assault convictions due to juror who was distracted by traumatic event
Colorado’s second-highest court last week reversed a man’s Boulder County sexual assault convictions and ordered a new trial because one juror was distracted after witnessing a fatal accident and missed key portions of testimony. A jury convicted Curtis James DiMarco in 2021 of numerous child sex offenses and he received a sentence of 60 years…
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Prosecutorial misconduct, error-prone judge’s decision prompt appeals court to overturn homicide conviction
Misconduct by two prosecutors and a Douglas County judge’s decision to bar crucial testimony prompted Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday to reverse a woman’s vehicular homicide conviction. Jurors convicted Jennifer Lea Woodruff of killing her coworker, Christopher Roberts, in a car accident along Interstate 25. The defense’s theory was that Woodruff’s medical condition caused her…