Tag: suppression
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Colorado Supreme Court rebuffs DA’s office over evidentiary appeal
The Colorado Supreme Court rebuffed a district attorney’s office on Monday for immediately pursuing an appeal of a trial judge’s evidentiary decision that the court had no authority to hear. State law authorizes prosecutors to file a mid-case, or “interlocutory,” appeal to the Supreme Court when a judge suppresses key evidence from being used in…
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Colorado Supreme Court says license plate corresponding to other vehicle is grounds for stopping driver
An Adams County deputy’s discovery that the license plates on a vehicle were registered to another car provided him the reasonable suspicion required to detain the driver, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday. However, the justices stopped short of deeming the subsequent vehicle search constitutional, as the trial judge had not yet evaluated whether…
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Colorado Supreme Court tosses Boulder DA’s appeal for failure to follow procedure
Although the Colorado Supreme Court indicated earlier this year that it might intervene in an ongoing Boulder County prosecution implicating a key 2020 police reform law, the justices reversed course last week after realizing the district attorney’s office neglected to follow the correct appellate procedure. Originally, the prosecution sought the Supreme Court’s immediate guidance on…
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Thornton officer’s unlawful search prompts appeals court to overturn Adams County drug conviction
An Adams County judge wrongly allowed evidence from an unconstitutional search in a man’s trial, prompting Colorado’s second-highest court to overturn the drug conviction last month. Jurors convicted Thomas Sandoval of one count of drug possession, after a Thornton police officer discovered a small container of methamphetamine during a pat-down search for weapons. Sandoval appealed,…