Tag: malicious prosecution
-
Federal judge allows Aurora protest leader to sue city, detective over prosecution
A federal judge last week declined to dismiss a malicious prosecution lawsuit against the city of Aurora and one of its detectives, brought by a 2020 protest leader who alleged there was no probable cause to arrest her. Eliza Lucero was involved in a protest outside an Aurora Police Department station in July 2020. She…
-
Federal judge green-lights trial over arrest of protester at Denver mayor’s 2019 inauguration
A federal judge indicated on Monday that it is a jury’s role to decide whether Denver police officers violated a woman’s rights by arresting her for disrupting the inauguration ceremony of then-Mayor Michael Hancock in 2019. U.S. District Court Senior Judge William J. Martínez found the officers had not performed a clearly unconstitutional seizure of Caryn…
-
Federal judge green-lights lawsuit for trial by man arrested for recording Denver police station
A jury will decide whether two Denver police officers violated a man’s First Amendment rights when they arrested him for recording at a police station, a federal judge ruled on Monday. There was no dispute that a sign was posted on the window of the District 5 station in northeast Denver prohibiting video recording “in”…
-
Federal judge dismisses malicious prosecution suit against Colorado Springs officers
A federal judge has dismissed a woman’s lawsuit against two Colorado Springs police officers who arrested her instead of looking into her report that she was the victim of domestic violence. U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney found it problematic if the officers did not follow up on Rebecca Varney’s claim of being assaulted…
-
10th Circuit reinstates malicious prosecution claim against ex-Denver DA employee
For the second time in four years, the federal appeals court based in Colorado has reinstated a claim of malicious prosecution against a former employee of the Denver District Attorney’s Office whose allegedly false testimony caused the plaintiffs to be wrongfully arrested. Victoria Carbajal and Luis Leal first filed suit more than a decade ago,…
-
Fort Collins police officers dismissed from lawsuit over 2020 arrests of protesters
A federal judge last month dismissed four Fort Collins police officers from a constitutional rights lawsuit, finding the plaintiffs failed to specifically allege how each defendant wrongfully arrested them and contributed to their prosecutions. In August 2020, Black Lives Matter protesters and participants in a “Defend the Police” rally clashed violently. Michael Piper Townley and…
-
Federal judge refuses to dismiss Fort Collins from another lawsuit involving officer’s wrongful arrests
For the second time in under a month, a federal judge has declined to dismiss Fort Collins from a lawsuit alleging the city’s own failures contributed to a police officer’s repeated wrongful arrests of motorists who were not actually intoxicated. Cody Erbacher is one of several arrestees who filed suit over their encounters with Jason…