Tag: sex offense
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Colorado Supreme Court to hear 2 Denver criminal appeals
The justices may also intervene in an ongoing criminal case to determine if the defendant is entitled to a fifth competency evaluation
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Appeals court finds constitutional violation with man’s child sex offense
Colorado’s second-highest court concluded on Thursday that an Arapahoe County man’s conviction for unlawful sexual contact on a child violated his constitutional rights and must be vacated. Jurors convicted Lucas Bienvenido Mena in 2021 of multiple sex offenses after hearing he pushed a 12-year-old relative into a bathroom, touched her genitals and took photos of…
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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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Douglas County sex offense convictions overturned because judge let biased juror serve
Colorado’s second-highest court last week reversed a man’s sexual assault convictions because a Douglas County judge allowed a biased juror to serve. Jurors convicted Dennis Floyd Ladd of multiple sex offenses in 2022 and he received an indefinite sentence of at least 25 years. During jury selection, his lawyer asked the jury pool if they would…
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Colorado justices agree ‘nature of relationship’ with minor relatives governs sex offender restrictions
The Colorado Supreme Court decided on Monday that a person on sex offender probation does not have his constitutional rights violated anytime his contact is restricted with minor relatives who are not his children. Instead, the Supreme Court decided such relationships fall on a “spectrum of protection,” with parent-child relationships requiring the greatest degree of…
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Colorado Supreme Court upholds man’s child enticement conviction
The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday concluded the state’s second-highest court wrongly overturned a man’s Jefferson County conviction for a child sex offense, determining the evidence was sufficient after all to find him guilty. James Clayton Johnson is serving six years to life in prison after jurors convicted him of enticement. The offense requires someone to…
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Appeals court acknowledges ‘unfair’ outcome, upholds man’s lifetime sex offender registration
Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday upheld a man’s requirement to register as a sex offender for life, while acknowledging state law made no exception for his 37-year-old conviction from outside Colorado that did not even require him to register at the time. Raymond Edward Moore has two convictions on his record for sex offenses: one…
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Colorado Supreme Court ponders where to draw line on sex offenders living with child relatives
The Colorado Supreme Court on Wednesday grappled with how to ensure a convicted defendant’s relationship with a minor family member is protected, while at the same time allowing courts to impose no-contact directives with children as part of sex offender probation. Following his Adams County conviction, Abdullahi Salah lived with his sister and her infant…
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Colorado justices ponder whether evidence enough to convict man of sex crime
The Colorado Supreme Court considered this week whether Jefferson County prosecutors actually had enough evidence to convict a man of a child sex crime, based on a one-minute, sexually suggestive conversation for which he is serving six years to life in prison. Previously, the state’s Court of Appeals concluded James Clayton Johnson’s alleged comments toward…
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Colorado justices ponder parole requirements for juvenile sex offenders amid constitutional challenge
Colorado’s justices on Tuesday appeared to believe the state law authorizing lengthy sentences for adult sex offenders does, when applied to juveniles, account for the guardrails necessary to comply with the U.S. Constitution. However, that determination would only be a piece of the larger puzzle, due to the unusual manner in which the case of…