Tag: Michael Hegarty
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DNA state crime lab debacle leads to first hearing alleging innocence
Yvonne “Missy” Woods was nearly nine years into her career as a DNA scientist with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation when she took the stand on Oct. 17, 2002, to admit a major embarrassment in her work – one she testified came as a “blow to my ego.” A masked man, using what police said…
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10th Circuit rebuffs environmental group’s lawsuit over government records
The federal appeals court based in Denver has rejected the arguments from a wildlife and habitat conservation group that the U.S. Forest Service failed to conduct a legally-adequate search for records — despite disclosing 140,637 pages of documents related to a controversial roadway project. Rocky Mountain Wild filed an open records request with the Forest Service…
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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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Colorado 10th Circuit reinstates race discrimination lawsuit over ‘crazy brown man’ comment
Whether a Hispanic insurance agent in Greeley had his contract terminated because he was perceived as a “crazy brown man running around with a gun” will now be a question for a jury to decide, as the federal appeals court based in Denver has reinstated the racial discrimination lawsuit. A trial judge last year sided…
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Federal judge considers ‘misleading’ prison explanation of Boston bomber’s restrictions
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Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save A federal judge on Wednesday questioned a Federal Bureau of Prisons official about the accuracy of the bureau’s response to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the man sentenced to death for killing four people in April 2013 in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing, and who is now challenging…
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Hemp producer cannot sue for confiscation of plants at DIA, federal judge rules
Congress has not given a Texas hemp producer the ability to sue the Denver Police Department for confiscating 32 of his plants at Denver International Airport earlier this year, a federal judge determined in dismissing the lawsuit. Francisco Serna, a resident of Austin, said the seized plants cost him under $200, but would have been…
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Court won’t require Colorado Judicial Department to turn over sex harassment allegations
The Colorado Judicial Department won’t have to provide documents about allegations contained in a memo outlining instances of judicial sexual harassment as part of the discovery for a racial and age discrimination hiring case, a federal magistrate judge ruled Wednesday. A Black lawyer had sought the documents in her federal lawsuit that alleges the Colorado…
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Lawsuit may shed light on misconduct allegations in state’s judicial department
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Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save A federal lawsuit alleging discriminatory hiring practices at the Colorado Supreme Court is poised to shed light on the recent allegation that former Chief Justice Nathan “Ben” Coats and other court employees gave a contract worth up to $2.75 million to a former judicial employee…