Tag: Judge Terry Fox
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Colorado justices splinter over approach to sentencing review
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court were divided on Monday about whether vehicular homicide stemming from intoxicated driving is “grave and serious” in every possible scenario, with two justices suggesting the court reconfigure its approach for determining the proportionality of criminal sentences. The Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment means sentences cannot be…
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Colorado Supreme Court to examine whether corporations can be liable for ‘felonious killing’
The Colorado Supreme Court recently announced that it will determine whether corporations can be liable for a “felonious killing,” meaning there is no limit to the damages they might pay for pain and suffering after causing a wrongful death. At least three of the court’s seven members must agree to take a case on appeal.…
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Colorado justices ponder scope of law curbing insurers’ ability to allege failure to cooperate
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court pondered a question last week that could have sweeping ramifications for those making insurance claims: When the legislature required insurance companies to take certain steps before accusing policyholders of failing to cooperate in an investigation, do those protections apply to every request an insurer might make? Leading up to…
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Colorado justices ponder ‘gotcha’ for defendant after messy process impacted mental health evidence
Some members of the Colorado Supreme Court were uncomfortable last week with letting a defendant’s murder conviction stand after a series of missteps resulted in a trial judge blocking jurors from hearing an expert’s assessment of the defendant’s mental health. Although the details were complicated, the legal issue was more streamlined: State law requires defendants…
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Colorado justices weigh disclosure requirements for ballot initiative spending
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court considered on Tuesday whether an organization that spent $4 million to advocate for ballot initiatives in the 2020 election was required to disclose its donors and spending. The organization, Unite for Colorado, advanced a straightforward argument: It spent 10% or less of its money on a single ballot measure.…
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Appeals court clarifies defendants’ ability to claim they unknowingly ingested drugs
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Colorado’s second-highest court clarified on Thursday that not every criminal defendant’s claim that they mistakenly ingested a different drug than the drug they thought they were taking will enable them to argue they were “involuntarily intoxicated.” An El Paso County jury convicted Karl Jeran Friday Williams in 2022 after he walked through a Colorado Springs neighborhood…
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Colorado Supreme Court questions 2020 change to child neglect laws
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Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save The Colorado Supreme Court pondered on Tuesday what the legislature meant to happen when it changed the state’s child neglect laws in 2020 to require more than a positive drug test at birth to deem a child neglected. The debate centered on the wording lawmakers chose to…
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Colorado Supreme Court, 5-2, says no new trial following ‘overt, in-court racism’
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Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save The Colorado Supreme Court concluded on Monday that a Black defendant did not deserve a new trial after one juror disclosed he moved to the overwhelmingly White jurisdiction because he “didn’t want diversity,” and the trial judge refused to dismiss him for bias. By 5-2,…
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Appeals court finds longer window applies for claiming violations under minimum wage law
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Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Resolving an issue that has generated disagreement among federal judges, Colorado’s second-highest court concluded that alleged violations of the state’s minimum wage law are subject to a six-year window for filing a claim and not…
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Colorado justices struggle with juror in Black defendant’s trial who ‘didn’t want diversity’
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Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Members of the Colorado Supreme Court this week struggled with the fate of a Black defendant’s convictions in an overwhelmingly White jurisdiction, after a trial judge refused to dismiss a juror who admitted he “didn’t want diversity.” Although the justices have previously addressed cases involving people of…