Colorado

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

Worker fired for medical marijuana use takes his case to Colorado Supreme Court

The Colorado Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Sept. 30 in a suit filed by a fired customer service representative who uses medical marijuana to control painful spasms he has suffered since he was paralyzed in a car crash. The worker, Brandon Coats, was fired after a drug test. He…

Sep 9, 2014 5:45 AM CDT

Small town sues all 61 voters over election issues, asks judge to order defendants into court

In a highly unusual Colorado case, Montezuma and its clerk have filed suit against all 61 of the small town’s registered voters. They are asking a Summit County judge to order the voters into court so issues concerning the town’s “fatally flawed” election earlier this year can be resolved, reports…

Aug 13, 2014 6:25 PM CDT

Colorado lawyer is accused of false kidnapping report

A lawyer in Aurora, Colorado, has been accused of falsely claiming that she was kidnapped. Police in Westminster charged lawyer Becky Keil on Friday with one felony attempt to influence a public servant and two misdemeanor charges of false reporting to authorities, report the Denver Post and 9News. Keil, 50,…

Aug 11, 2014 4:58 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

State AG sues 2 foreclosure law firms; one agrees to pay $10M and sell or close down

The Colorado attorney general filed suit Tuesday against the state’s biggest foreclosure law firms and two related companies. He alleges they racked up millions of dollars in profits by charging excessive fees to all parties involved in the cases, in violation of antitrust, consumer protection and debt-collection statutes. One of…

Jul 16, 2014 8:06 PM CDT

Stress may be killing law students’ brain cells, law prof says

Law students take note: Rats that spend time on a running wheel generate twice the new brain cells as those that are sedentary. And that is one reason why exercise is so important, according to University of Denver law professor Debra Austin, who wrote about stress and the brain in…

Jun 18, 2014 10:45 AM CDT

Suit filed over plan to block public trails on 66-acre grounds of planned new Oprah Winfrey home

A retired nuclear physicist has sued over the planned closure of trails that have been used by hikers for decades on a 66-acre Colorado property intended as the site of a new home for Oprah Winfrey. The entertainment queen plans to to build a megamansion and guest house on the…

May 15, 2014 10:54 PM CDT

Court garage sale, case delays and long lines are result of California cost cuts

California has cut so much money from the courts budget that some people may be discouraged from using the system, according to the state’s chief justice. Annual case filings in the state have dropped by about 2.5 million in the last few years, says California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye in…

May 13, 2014 2:03 PM CDT

Judge says defense can’t videotape jury selection in Colo. movie theater shooting case

Lawyers for James Holmes cannot videotape jury selection for his trial over the 12 people killed and dozens more wounded in a July 2012 shooting at the premiere of a Batman movie at a Colorado theater, a judge has ruled. Saying that the digital video camera could be intimidating to…

Apr 24, 2014 2:50 PM CDT

Despite legalization, black-market marijuana activities continue in Colorado

It’s now legal to purchase and possess up to an ounce of marijuana in Colorado, under state law. But that doesn’t mean the days of black-market growing and dealing of pot are over, the Associated Press reports. There’s still demand in other states for illegal marijuana grown in Colorado, and…

Apr 4, 2014 10:00 PM CDT

Colorado lawyers may advise pot businesses, new ethics comment says

Colorado lawyers who advise marijuana businesses that operate under authority of a state constitutional amendment don’t have to worry that their conduct violates lawyer ethics rules. A new comment (PDF) to the rules, adopted by the Colorado Supreme Court on Monday, says a lawyer may advise a client in conduct…

Mar 25, 2014 2:59 PM CDT

13 trial lawyers from Kennedy Childs join Fennemore Craig; 12 others form new firm, Childs McCune

A firm of trial lawyers in Colorado is splitting, with 13 of its attorneys headed to the Denver office of Fennemore Craig and 12 others forming a new firm, Childs McCune, as of March 10. There are currently 19 lawyers listed on the attorney roster at the Kennedy Childs website,…

Mar 3, 2014 11:14 PM CST

Could another client’s husband have shot divorce attorney? Defense points to two possibilities

The government says Bruce J. Nozolino shot a Colorado attorney through the window of his Colorado Springs law office on Jan. 23, 2002. Motivated by a desire to strike back at the lawyer who helped Nozolino’s wife gain custody of the couple’s children during a hard-fought divorce, the former corporate…

Feb 25, 2014 4:50 PM CST

Divorce lawyer testifies at murder trial of former client’s ex-husband

At first, although there was snow on the ground, John Ciccolella thought a lightning bolt had knocked him to the floor of his Colorado Springs law office on Jan. 23, 2002. But that wasn’t what happened. After a shot had been fired into his home about six months earlier, the…

Jan 22, 2014 5:00 PM CST