10th Circuit Court

10th Circuit tosses law student’s suit over expulsion procedure

A University of Kansas law student who was expelled after disclosing his criminal convictions has lost his appeal in a federal appeals court. The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday affirmed dismissal of the suit filed by Robert Brown, which alleged the school denied him due process,…

Jan 15, 2015 11:44 AM CST

Jailed 12 days, man proves his mistaken arrest by dropping pants in court; $88K settlement proposed

After successfully interviewing for a dream job at a Las Vegas hotel in 2010, Christian Robinson began a nightmare journey through the criminal justice system. A background check found there was a warrant for his arrest in a felony drug case in Colorado, his home state. So Robinson took a…

Jan 6, 2015 5:45 AM CST

Former in-house patent lawyer admits $5M billing scheme, will reimburse Hunter Douglas

Sued in federal court in Denver, a former lead in-house patent lawyer for Hunter Douglas Inc. has admitted a billing scheme that diverted more than $5 million of company funds to a patent-search firm he secretly controlled and promised to repay the money. Jason Throne, 53, said in court papers…

Dec 8, 2014 5:05 PM CST

Denver to pay $5K to $52K to settle mistaken-arrest cases blamed on ‘recklessly sloppy police work’

The Denver City Council agreed Monday to pay $337,250 to settle federal civil rights litigation brought by three men who were arrested and jailed after being mistaken for someone else. Most of the money will got to the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, which pursued the Denver case on…

Dec 2, 2014 4:30 PM CST

Wind farm sues feds to stop release of bird-death data to Associated Press

Flying eagles looking for prey are much like texting drivers behind the wheel. They don’t notice wind farm turbines in their flight path until it’s too late. However, such birds are under federal protection, and the Associated Press has been asking why wind farms, unlike oil and power companies, haven’t…

Nov 17, 2014 1:00 PM CST

Rolling Stones settle $12.7M insurance claim over shows canceled due to Jagger’s girlfriend’s death

Updated: A legal battle between the Rolling Stones and insurance underwriters, concerning the band’s $12.7 million claim over the cancellation of seven Rolling Stones performances earlier this year, has been settled on undisclosed terms. However, band members are unhappy because private information about their families and health were made public…

Nov 11, 2014 11:10 AM CST

Supreme Court temporarily blocks same-sex marriage in Kansas

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has temporarily blocked same-sex marriages in Kansas in response to a stay application that cites a newly developed circuit split. Sotomayor, who handles emergency appeals from the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, granted the stay Monday evening, the New York Times, the…

Nov 11, 2014 7:12 AM CST

Federal judges OK same-sex marriage in Arizona and Wyoming; SCOTUS declines Alaska stay

Barriers to same-sex marriages were removed by federal courts in three more states Friday. Federal district judges struck bans in Arizona and Wyoming and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to issue a stay of an earlier ruling by a federal judge in Alaska, Reuters reports. Assuming a temporary stay in…

Oct 17, 2014 5:25 PM CDT

Jury awards record $4.65M in death of homeless street preacher restrained by sheriff’s deputies

An all-white federal court jury in Colorado awarded $4.65 million Tuesday in the 2010 death of a homeless black street preacher who was being restrained by Denver sheriff’s deputies at the city’s downtown jail. The death of Marvin Booker, 56, was ruled a homicide, although no one has been charged.…

Oct 14, 2014 4:30 PM CDT

Imprisoned for plotting to kill federal judge, law grad wants to play the violin in supermax

Nearly a decade into his 40-year prison sentence for plotting to kill a federal judge in Chicago, law graduate Matthew Hale is finding the conditions of his solitary confinement in one of the country’s most secure prisons onerous. The would-be Illinois lawyer, who was denied bar admission over his admitted…

Sep 16, 2014 2:45 PM CDT

See the video: Inmate slammed into window frame during court hearing files $5M civil rights lawsuit

Slammed into a courtroom window frame by a county sheriff’s deputy as a security camera rolled, a now-former Denver inmate says he suffered a head injury and broken teeth as a result of the Sept. 11, 2012 incident. He has filed a federal civil rights suit against the city and…

Jul 30, 2014 8:30 PM CDT

Same-sex marriages in Utah don’t have to be recognized pending appeal because of SCOTUS stay

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay on Friday that allows the state of Utah to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages while the state appeals a federal appeals court ruling striking down the state’s ban on such marriages. The order applies to so-called “interim marriages” entered into after a federal…

Jul 21, 2014 1:26 PM CDT

Marshal who shot and killed defendant in federal court during trial won’t be prosecuted, DOJ says

An unidentified marshal who shot and killed a 25-year-old defendant as he charged the witness stand with a pen in his hand during a federal racketeering trial in Salt Lake City won’t himself face any criminal charge. The FBI announced Monday that an investigation showed the marshal had fired four…

Jul 15, 2014 8:10 PM CDT

Utah asks Supreme Court to uphold its same-sex marriage ban

Corrected: Utah announced on Wednesday that it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a recent decision by the 10th Circuit and uphold its same-sex marriage ban. According to the Associated Press, the state’s attorney general will not seek an en banc review from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court…

Jul 10, 2014 9:03 PM CDT

10th Circuit rules Utah gay-marriage ban is unconstitutional

A divided federal appeals court panel in Denver on Wednesday upheld a decision by a federal judge in Utah that a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment. “Courts do not sit in judgment of the hearts and minds of the citizenry,” said the Denver-based 10th…

Jun 25, 2014 5:45 PM CDT