Tag: Fourth Amendment
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10th Circuit hears Denver, officer’s request to overturn $14M jury verdict after 2020 protests
Members of the Colorado-based federal appeals court considered on Wednesday whether a judge committed errors in the 2022 civil trial where jurors found Denver liable for $14 million for violating the constitutional rights of protesters. In the first lawsuit of many to culminate in a jury trial, 12 plaintiffs largely succeeded in arguing Denver’s own…
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10th Circuit rules Denver police acted constitutionally by taking bullet removed from man
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Denver police did not violate the constitutional prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures by obtaining a bullet, without a warrant, that was removed from a man’s leg and later used as evidence against him, the Colorado-based federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. Law enforcement responded…
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10th Circuit revives transgender detainee’s lawsuit against El Paso County sheriff
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save The federal appeals court based in Denver ruled on Wednesday that a transgender detainee at the El Paso County jail could proceed with her lawsuit against the sheriff and a deputy for alleged violations of her constitutional rights. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court…
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10th Circuit ponders immunity for Loveland officer who shot puppy in head
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Members of the Denver-based federal appeals court heard arguments on Wednesday about whether a Loveland police officer violated a couple’s constitutional rights by shooting their puppy in the head and torso. In November 2023, U.S. District Court Senior Judge Raymond P. Moore declined to grant…
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Colorado Supreme Court upholds DPS search of student on ‘safety plan’
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save The Colorado Supreme Court agreed on Monday that Denver Public Schools personnel acted constitutionally when they searched a student’s backpack without a warrant or suspicion of wrongdoing, but instead pursuant to a “safety plan” created after his prior criminal conduct. The case appeared to be…
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Denver police lawfully searched man’s ‘abandoned’ backpack, 10th Circuit rules
The federal appeals court based in Colorado agreed with prosecutors earlier this month that a shooting suspect effectively abandoned ownership of his backpack, which permitted police to search it and uncover an illegally possessed handgun inside. The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures wherever they have a reasonable expectation of privacy. The…
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Colorado officer who shot fleeing suspect may be held liable for excessive force, judge says
A jury will now decide whether a Rifle police officer and the city itself are liable for shooting a fleeing suicidal man, as a federal judge on Monday refused to grant immunity for the 2019 killing of Allan George. Lawyers for Corporal Dewey Ryan and the city argued George posed a threat to others as…
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Colorado officers who killed, wounded vehicle occupants in car chase granted immunity
A late-night vehicle pursuit through Littleton, Englewood and Denver that left a driver partially paralyzed and a passenger dead has now culminated in a federal judge’s decision to grant immunity to the police officers involved. There was no caselaw, Rodriguez concluded, labeling the officers’ use of force unconstitutional “in the context of a car chase…
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Judge: Alleged Hells Angel who was shot in no-knock raid may sue officers
A federal judge has cleared the way for a Golden man to sue law enforcement officers for the injuries and damage they caused in executing an early-morning, no-knock warrant as part of a largescale operation against the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. Dustin J. Ullerich’s civil rights lawsuit described in graphic terms how he was “literally…
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Judge sides with Aurora officer in finding no constitutional violation from pointing gun at doctor
An Aurora police officer who pointed a gun at a man, refused to leave the man’s property and claimed he acted with a “warrior mentality” did not commit a constitutional violation, a federal judge determined on Thursday. Although a jury was scheduled to decide the civil rights claims of physician P.J. Parmar against Officer Justin…