Search | Criminal Legal News

Colorado Supreme Court Announces Police Facilitating  Drug-Detection Dog’s Entry Into Vehicle by Opening Door  During Traffic Stop Without Probable Cause Is Unconstitutional Search in Violation of Fo...

Article • July 1, 2025 • from CLN July, 2025

Filed under: Fourth Amendment, rights, Drug-Sniffing Dog, Automobile Searches/Seizures

Colorado Supreme Court Announces Police Facilitating Drug-Detection Dog’s Entry Into Vehicle by Opening Door During Traffic Stop Without Probable Cause Is Unconstitutional Search in Violation of Fourth Amendment by Anthony Accurso The Supreme Court of Colorado held that the police conducted an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment of a …

News in Brief

Article • July 1, 2025 • from CLN July, 2025

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Shootings, Dogs, Police--Excessive Force, Brady Violations, Home Search, Bribery/Extortion/Theft, Brady Rule violations, Perjury/Perjured Testimony

News in Brief by Arkansas: The downward spiral of former Hot Spring County Sheriff Derek “Scott” Finkbeiner, 47, continued with his fourth arrest on May 2, 2025, reported KATV out of Little Rock. The arrest stemmed from Finkbeiner’s attempt to contact a witness, co-defendant Jordan Hammond, through the Signal app, …

News in Brief

Article • May 15, 2025 • from CLN June, 2025

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: On March 31, 2025, in State of Alabama v. Mac Marquette, Morgan County Circuit Judge Charles Elliott denied former Decatur Police Department officer Marquette’s motion for self-defense immunity in the fatal shooting of Steve Perkins. According to the Associate Press, the denial depended legally on …

Estate of Jackson Maes v. Board of County Commissioners of the County of Saguache, CO, Verdict Form, Wrongful Death, 2025

Brief • April 9, 2025

Filed under: Wrongful Death, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Estate of Jackson Maes v. Board of County Commissioners of the County of Saguache, CO, Verdict Form, Wrongful Death, 2025 Case No. 1:21-cv-00628-NYW-NRN Document 329 pg 1 of 4 filed 04/09/25 USDC Colorado IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO Civil Action No. 21-cv-00628-NYW-NRN SARAH LIEBERENZ, …

NEWS IN BRIEF

Article • March 15, 2025 • from CLN April, 2025

Filed under: News in Brief

NEWS IN BRIEF by Alabama: On February 19, 2025, a grand jury called for the immediate abolition of the Hanceville Police Department for its “rampant culture of corruption” that turned it into a criminal enterprise. The New York Post reported that an investigation followed the death of dispatcher Christopher Willingham, …

Colorado Supreme Court Holds Defendant Was in ‘Custody’ for Miranda Purposes Because She Had Hands Bagged and Zip Tied, Commanded Not to Remove Them, and Questioned Alone in Interrogation Room With...

Article • February 15, 2025 • from CLN March, 2025

Filed under: Miranda, Custodial Interrogations

Colorado Supreme Court Holds Defendant Was in ‘Custody’ for Miranda Purposes Because She Had Hands Bagged and Zip Tied, Commanded Not to Remove Them, and Questioned Alone in Interrogation Room With Door Closed by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso The Supreme Court of Colorado held that a defendant who …

Colorado Bureau of Investigation Admits Over 1,000 Cases Affected by DNA Test Misconduct

Article • February 1, 2025 • from CLN February, 2025

Filed under: Judicial Misconduct, DNA Testing/Samples, junk science, Forensic Sciences

Colorado Bureau of Investigation Admits Over 1,000 Cases Affected by DNA Test Misconduct by James Mills by James Mills The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (“CBI”) announced that more than 1,000 cases could be affected by the systematic deletion and falsification of data by forensic scientist Yvonne “Missy” Woods. Woods was …

Seeking Justice for Two: The DNA Scandal That Shook a Community

Article • January 15, 2025 • from CLN February, 2025

Filed under: DNA Testing/Samples, junk science, Wrongful Conviction, DNA Evidence/Testing

Seeking Justice for Two: The DNA Scandal That Shook a Community by by Justyna Madenska This article explores the wrongful conviction of David Hehn and the unresolved murder of Gay Lynn Dixon, revealing systemic failures in forensic evidence handling and the justice system’s pursuit of true justice. In 1982, the …

Colorado Supreme Court Announces When Deciding Defendant’s Pro Se Motion Requesting Counsel on Postconviction Review, Trial Court Must Either Deny Entire Motion or Permit All Claims If Any Have Argua...

Article • December 15, 2024 • from CLN January, 2025

Filed under: Appointment of Counsel, After Request for Counsel, Pro Se Issues

Colorado Supreme Court Announces When Deciding Defendant’s Pro Se Motion Requesting Counsel on Postconviction Review, Trial Court Must Either Deny Entire Motion or Permit All Claims If Any Have Arguable Merit by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford The Supreme Court of Colorado issued an opinion defining the scope of a …

News in Brief

Article • December 15, 2024 • from CLN January, 2025

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: A former Huntsville, Alabama police officer, William “Ben” Darby, was sentenced again on October 26, 2024, to 25 years for the fatal shooting of a suicidal man in 2018, according to the Slate Report. Darby was convicted for the second time in May 2024 of …

Years of Warnings Ignored as DNA Analyst at Colorado Crime Lab Allegedly Cut Corners, Her Misconduct Casts Doubt on Thousands of Cases

Article • September 1, 2024 • from CLN September, 2024

Filed under: junk science, DNA Evidence

Years of Warnings Ignored as DNA Analyst at Colorado Crime Lab Allegedly Cut Corners, Her Misconduct Casts Doubt on Thousands of Cases by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott 20th Judicial District Court Judge Patrick Butler unsealed a troubling internal affairs report from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (“CBI”) …

Woman Left Handcuffed in Parked Cop Car Struck by Train Settles Suit for $8.5 Million

Article • September 1, 2024 • from CLN September, 2024

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Restraints, Settlements, Physical Injury/Restraint, Deliberate Indifference

Woman Left Handcuffed in Parked Cop Car Struck by Train Settles Suit for $8.5 Million by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney On June 5, 2024, Plaintiff Yareni Rios-Gonzalez agreed to accept payment of $8.5 million from Defendants Town of Platteville, Colorado, and the City of Fort Lupton to settle her …

Dozens of Prisoners in Colorado Notified About Potential Compromised DNA Evidence

Article • August 1, 2024 • from CLN August, 2024

Filed under: DNA Testing/Samples, junk science, DNA Evidence, DNA Evidence/Testing

Dozens of Prisoners in Colorado Notified About Potential Compromised DNA Evidence by In early July, dozens of incarcerated individuals in Colorado counties Arapahoe and Douglas, received a promising letter from the District Attorney’s office. DA John Kellner was notifying defendants in cases that could have been affected by allegations of …

Colorado Supreme Court Announces First Degree Criminal Trespass of Dwelling Is Lesser-Included Offense of Second Degree Burglary, Explicitly Overruling Garcia, and Merger Is Remedy for Double Jeopardy...

Article • July 15, 2024 • from CLN July, 2024

Filed under: Double jeopardy, Resentencing

Colorado Supreme Court Announces First Degree Criminal Trespass of Dwelling Is Lesser-Included Offense of Second Degree Burglary, Explicitly Overruling Garcia, and Merger Is Remedy for Double Jeopardy Sentencing Error by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford   The Supreme Court of Colorado held that convictions for second-degree burglary and first-degree criminal …

$3.76 Million Awarded to Denver Grandmother for SWAT Raid of Home Based on Inaccurate iPhone Ping

Article • July 15, 2024 • from CLN July, 2024

Filed under: State Law Claims, SWAT Teams, State Constitutional Claims, False Statements, Testimony or Documents

$3.76 Million Awarded to Denver Grandmother for SWAT Raid of Home Based on Inaccurate iPhone Ping by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott A Colorado jury awarded a 78-year-old woman, Ruby Johnson, $3.76 million in damages on March 1, 2024, after a SWAT team raided her home based on …

Tenth Circuit Announces Assault Conviction Under 18 U.S.C. § 113(a)(6) Not a Qualifying Predicate ‘Crime of Violence’ for Purposes of USSG § 2K2.1(a)(3)

Article • July 15, 2024 • from CLN July, 2024

Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Physical Force, Use of, Predicate Acts/Offenses

Tenth Circuit Announces Assault Conviction Under 18 U.S.C. § 113(a)(6) Not a Qualifying Predicate ‘Crime of Violence’ for Purposes of USSG § 2K2.1(a)(3) by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney   The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that a conviction for assault resulting in serious bodily injury …

Lilgerose, et al. v. Polis, et al., CO, Motion for Class Cert., Prison Slave Labor, 2024

Brief • July 10, 2024

Filed under: Prison Labor, State Law Claims, Class Actions

Lilgerose, et al. v. Polis, et al., CO, Motion for Class Cert., Prison Slave Labor, 2024 DISTRICT COURT, DENVER COUNTY, COLORADO Denver City and County Building 1437 Bannock Street, Denver, CO 80202 PLAINTIFFS: RICHARD LILGEROSE and HAROLD MORTIS, on their own behalf and on behalf of those similarly situated v. …

Fisk v. Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners, CO, Excessive Force, 2024

Brief • June 17, 2024

Filed under: Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints

Fisk v. Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners, CO, Excessive Force, 2024 \~ SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT THIS SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ("Agreement"), dated for reference purposes May 28, 2024, is entered into between Frederick Fisk ("Claimant") and the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners (the "County") (collectively, the "Parties"). WHEREAS, Claimant has asserted …

Colorado Supreme Court Announces Parole Board Not Statutorily Required to Consider ‘Demonstrated Maturity and Rehabilitation’ When Deciding Whether to Release Sex Offenders Who Received Adult Sentence...

Article • June 15, 2024 • from CLN June, 2024

Filed under: Life without Parole (LWOP), Certification, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders, Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Release Decisions

Colorado Supreme Court Announces Parole Board Not Statutorily Required to Consider ‘Demonstrated Maturity and Rehabilitation’ When Deciding Whether to Release Sex Offenders Who Received Adult Sentences for Crimes Committed as Juveniles by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford   In a case of first impression, the Supreme Court of Colorado held …

Gilliam v. City of Aurora, CO, Settlement, Excessive Force, 2024

Brief • 2024

Filed under: Excessive Force, Excessive Force (Police)

Gilliam v. City of Aurora, CO, Settlement, Excessive Force, 2024 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND RELEASE OF ALL CLAIMS I. Parties The Parties to this Settlement Agreement and Release of All Claims ("Agreement") are: A. B. II. The CITY OF AURORA, COLORADO, and its present and past employees, including elected officials, appointees, …