After the passage of Amendment 64, we reported that Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey had called for a review of all pending pot cases that would be legal under the measure, with a bias toward dropping those unaccompanied by additional charges. Now, however, an attorney says a client accused of…
Each year, we collect the most memorable images from the previous twelve months — and when we start rolling out those posts, expect to see shots from November among them. Look below to see the shots that caught our eye over the past few weeks, and be sure to click…
Steve Hogan, mayor of Aurora, the city where Century 16 shooting suspect James Holmes allegedly killed twelve people and injured dozens more, is not joining a nationwide coalition of mayors that supports stricter gun laws. In response, the group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, argues that Hogan should join fellow city…
In what’s called an effort to support the economic vitality of downtown Colorado Springs and stop panhandling, the city passed an ordinance this week that bans solicitation. But the law is so broad that it violates the First Amendment. At least that’s the interpretation of the American Civil Liberties Union,…
Erik Jensen was seventeen when he got mixed up in the deadly domestic drama of Nate Ybanez, his best buddy. Ybanez is now serving a life sentence for the 1998 murder of his mother, Julie; Jensen is also serving life without parole for helping him — although whether he was…
The news that the Denver Police Department will now be enforcing state drunk cycling laws and giving out DUIs to intoxicated riders has sparked a lot of debate. But as word spread earlier this week, DPD officials said it was unclear how DUIs for cyclists would affect their driving licences…
This week’s feature, “The Old Boys,” explores an emerging quandary in the criminal justice arena. Colorado has 51 state inmates serving life without parole for crimes committed when they were under eighteen — and thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision declaring such sentences unconstitutional, this special population may have…
Jailhouse confessions tend to be treated skeptically by judges and juries, and with good reason; inmates have a bad habit of lying about their crimes, either to brag or to blame someone else. But the confession that inmate Jeff Johnson says he obtained from co-defendant Johnathan Jordan, stating that Jordan…
Update: Headlines noting that seventeen-year-old Austin Sigg has been charged as an adult in the kidnapping and killing of Jessica Ridgeway, a ten-year-old Westminster girl, are a bit redundant, since documents to that effect were filed last month; see previous coverage below. But his court visit yesterday was significant for…
Update: The trial of Kelli Lynn Murphy, a Castle Rock mom accused of smothering her two kids in their beds, got underway two weeks ago; see our previous coverage below. But jurors didn’t take nearly that long to reach a conclusion about the case. Ninety minutes or so after deliberations…
Yesterday, we reported that Denver Police are now enforcing state drunk-cycling laws — meaning intoxicated cyclists can be charged with DUIs just like inebriated drivers. Some cycling advocates question whether this is good public policy — and a look at parallel laws around the country shows that Denver’s approach is…
Cyclists in Denver will now be subject to a new Denver Police Department enforcement policy that says drunk bikers, like drunk drivers, can be charged with DUI. The change, announced internally last week, is designed to align with state laws, officials say, though some bike advocates worry this kind of…
Last week, our Alan Prendergast wrote about an inmate who claims accused Aurora theater killer James Holmes told him his murder spree had been spurred by a homicidal directive implanted by a therapist. Earlier today, the National Enquirer published its version of the story — and the tone and substance…
Criminal defense attorneys make their living by questioning the credibility of witnesses — especially ones not able to testify. But it’ll be tough to undermine the words of Francisco Moran, who said Hector Alvarez-Martinon stabbed him on Thanksgiving shortly before breathing his last…
Families of Homicide Victims and Missing Persons is an organization devoted to making sure no case or loved one is forgotten — and its website features many personal stories of victims whose killers have not yet been brought to justice. We’ve featured two previous posts based on the site (one…
Tensions between cyclists and motorists on the road seem to be at an all-time high in Colorado given several recent incidents where drivers and bikers have clashed dramatically. Now, three cyclists have taken one fight all the way to the Colorado Supreme Court to protest a controversial ban on biking…
The University of Colorado has released four documents in response to more than thirty open records requests filed by the media. Three are heavily redacted and the fourth is a log of which buildings accused Aurora theater shooter and former student James Holmes entered using his campus ID. That record…
November has been a violent month in Capitol Hill. To start, there was the stabbing death of Ryan Haldeman, 28, near Pub on Penn on November 2. Two days later, 47-year-old Ronald Smith was shot to death outside The Hive. And on November 16, 30-year-old Jonathan Michael Hammond was shot…
Denver Police Chief Robert White’s controversial reorganization of the department is now in effect, and top officials say the major restructuring will create a stronger agency — even if many officers were forced to face demotions. In an effort to reduce “stagnation,” White opened up positions, so that many officers…
The contentious debate over the rights of permit-holders to bring guns onto college campuses was back in the spotlight last week with news that a University of Colorado staffer accidentally fired her handgun, injuring herself and a colleague. Now a representative of the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police says…
On a Sunday morning in September, two cyclists on an open road in Longmont filmed their bizarre encounter with James Ernst, 75, who drove an SUV and honked nonstop without passing them. Despite the video, which has now more than 450,000 hits on YouTube, Ernst has pleaded not guilty to…
Update:The Denver coroner’s office has identified the victim of a weekend homicide at South Carlan Court as Loretta Barela, 44. But beyond the tragedy of her death and the arrest of her husband, Christopher Perea, for the crime, additional questions have arisen. Among them: Did the Denver Police take hours…
