Tag: self defense
-
Officer-involved shooting at Platte Walmart justified, 4th Judicial District rules
Officer could not take cover when man pulled gun, probe says
-
Appeals court orders new Weld County murder trial after judge refused to give self-defense instruction
Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday decided a Weld County judge should have instructed jurors to consider whether a man accused of murder acted in self-defense, given that some evidence at the crime scene supported that theory. Jurors convicted Kenneth James Hoschouer III in 2021 of murdering his friend, Christopher Grau, at Grau’s residence in Firestone two years…
-
10th Circuit directs judge to redo ruling in case of gas station clerk fired for confronting knife-wielding robber
The federal appeals court based in Denver told a trial judge on Tuesday to reconsider her ruling that Circle K lawfully fired a 72-year-old convenience store cashier who attempted to stop a knife-wielding robber from stealing cigarettes. Mary Ann Moreno, a 16-year employee of the company, was behind the register at a Westminster Circle K…
-
Appeals judge slams Denver prosecutor for ‘Dexter’ references at trial
One member of Colorado’s second-highest court criticized a Denver prosecutor on Thursday for repeatedly comparing a defendant’s actions to the television show “Dexter” during a jury trial. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals declined to order a new murder trial for defendant Joseph Alden Corey. The majority conceded the prosecutor’s references to a…
-
Colorado justices weigh unique defense to murder for non-triggermen
Some members of the Colorado Supreme Court on Wednesday signaled their agreement with the notion that a defendant need not admit to committing an underlying offense in order to assert a defense to the more serious crime of felony murder. Felony murder is a unique offense, in which a defendant is guilty if he participates in…
-
Evidence of past fleeing can be used in Colorado murder trial, judge rules
An El Paso County judge on Wednesday ruled that evidence of a previous attempt to flee law enforcement from the Colorado man who now stands accused of killing a parole officer last year can be used at his trial next month. Justin Kula, 42, is accused of killing Pueblo parole officer Christine Guerin Sandoval with his car after…
-
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.…
-
Assault, murder convictions reversed in 2 cases for judges’ errors
Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday reversed two sets of criminal convictions because trial judges gave improper instructions to jurors or incorrectly allowed damaging evidence to be heard. In the first case out of Jefferson County, jurors convicted Clinton Eugene Priest of murdering and assaulting Robert Miller after the two men got into a physical confrontation outside…
-
Colorado Supreme Court confirms ‘Make My Day’ home defense not applicable to reckless killing
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a man convicted of manslaughter in Adams County could not rely on the state’s “Make My Day” law authorizing lethal force against home intruders to defend himself against a charge of recklessly shooting his friend. There was no dispute that Justin Brendan Martinez shot and killed Ismael…
-
Colorado Supreme Court explores limits of ‘Make My Day’ defense
There was no dispute that Justin Brendan Martinez shot and killed his friend, Ismael Huerta, inside Martinez’s house. Martinez and another witness described the shooting as a freak accident, one in which Martinez fired his gun at the floor but happened to fatally wound Huerta. Adams County jurors acquitted Martinez of murder but convicted him…