Posted on February 7, 2010 by Andres Guevara
As noted by the Denver Post:
Carol Chambers has overstepped again — this time by illegally funding her prosecution of a high-profile murder case, a judge has ruled.
“A district attorney’s obligation is greater than obtaining convictions,” reads an order Tuesday by District Judge Stanley Brinkley.
“A conviction, if it is to be obtained, must be accomplished by obedience to the law. Otherwise, the prosecution is no different than those the prosecutor is required to prosecute.”
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_14282987#ixzz0euDWY0tQ
The court found that Carol Cambers and the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office broke state law by creating a new funding source and sidestepping counties’ budget approval
Filed under: Arapahoe County Cases, Criminal Cases, Prosecutorial Misconduct | Tagged: Criminal Law, Prosecutorial Misconduct | Leave a Comment »
Posted on January 27, 2010 by Andres Guevara
A few months ago, the Attorney General cited some very fuzzy math and claimed that robberies and other crimes were higher in neighborhoods with marijuana dispensaries. (http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-crime-marijuana-101309,0,3838875.story). Although officials withheld the actual data, this didn’t stop news outlets from reporting the report as a stone clad fact. Well, turns out that the reality is far more interesting. A new internal memo indicates that:
medical- marijuana dispensaries in the city were robbed or burglarized at a lower rate last year than either banks or liquor stores.
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14275637#ixzz0dsRBUh2R
Filed under: Criminal Law, Drug Offenses, Marijuana | Tagged: Criminal Law, Marijuana | Leave a Comment »
Posted on October 29, 2009 by Andres Guevara
This decision has only come out, so more time is needed to figure out the actual long-term impact of today’s ruling, but it appears as if the Colorado Court of Appeals has struck a blow against marijuana dispensaries in the state. Obviously, this is not the end of the line as this opinion will no doubt be appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Colorado Court of Appeals upheld the criminal conviction for marijuana cultivation of Stacy Clendenin, ruling that a person designated as a medical marijuana “caregiver” must do more than just supply marijuana to patients. In a strange decision, the Court of Appeals argued that the caregiver cannot simply grow the marijuana even if he or she knows that the marijuana is going to be used for a patient–the caregiver must actually know the identities of the patients.
In a special concurring opinion, Judge Alan Loeb wrote that Colorado’s consitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana “cries out for legislative action.” Hopefully this action will include a common sense approach to marijuana.
Source: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13668544
Filed under: Drug Offenses, Marijuana | Tagged: Marijuana | Leave a Comment »
Posted on October 14, 2009 by Andres Guevara
Yesterday, Colorado Attorney General Suthers claimed that he is in possession of data that suggests a “significant increase” in home invasion robberies near medical marijuana dispensary stores. Of course, the actual data has not yet been released for a review by independant auditors so right now we only the word of law enforcement personnel. You may hear some news outlets pick this item up and run with it even though no one (other than these law enforcement personnel) has verified this information or determined whether legitimate statistical methodology was used.
Besides, in this bad economy, maybe there are other reasons for an increase in burglaries such as . . . the bad economy. Keep in mind that police and law enforcement agencies aren’t big fans of marijuana dispensaries so we need to be highly skeptical of “data” coming from these entities concerning marijuana use.
Source: http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-crime-marijuana-101309,0,3838875.story
Filed under: Marijuana | Leave a Comment »
Posted on October 8, 2009 by Andres Guevara
Glenn Coyne, 35, an officer in Grand Junction, committed suicide days after being arrested for first degree sexual assault and burglary. Coyne’s body was found by housekeepers at a Day’s Inn in Jefferson County. Coyne was accused of assaulting a woman who called him for follow-up help after Coyne and other officers went to her Grand Junction home on an unspecified family matter.
Source: http://www.denverpost.com/crime/ci_13506928
Filed under: Police | Leave a Comment »
Posted on October 1, 2009 by Andres Guevara
Filed under: DNA | Tagged: DNA | Leave a Comment »
Posted on September 28, 2009 by Andres Guevara
A shocking new development in the death penalty case of David Bueno as revelations surface that the Arapahoe County District Attorney, Carol Chambers, and her office withheld critical documents that could have exonerated Mr. Bueno. Fortunately, Bueno, who was convicted in 2008 and sentenced to life by the jury (that refused to buy the D.A’s request for death), is still alive and can potentially benefit from this information. Unfortunately, as noted by both the Denver Post and Westword, this isn’t the first time that Chamber’s office has been accused of ethical lapses in death penalty cases. And considering what occured in the Timothy Masters case, you might think (incorrectly) that prosecutors would be extra careful to compy with their ethical requirements.
In 2008, David Bueno was tried for the 2004 murder of another prisoner in the Limon Correctional Facility and convicted of murder. Although Bueno was already serving a life sentence, Carol Chambers sought the death penalty. The case involved the stabbing death of Jeffrey Heird, a white supremacist who had been labeled as a rat for refusing to warn fellow white inmates about a drug bust in prison. The defenses theory was that the victim was a renegade white supremacist who was killed by other white gang members who then blamed the mruder on three Hispanic inmates, including Bueno.
It has now come to light that the 18th Judicial District prosecutors withheld documents consistent with the defense theory. This new information has only come to light because the judge presiding over Bueno’s co-defendant’s case, has called the D.A. to task. For example, prosecutors failed to disclose in the Bueno case that:
[M]inutes after finding Heird’s body, a prison nurse found a letter written by the Aryan Nation threatening to “exterminate” white inmates who “refuse to accept their proud race” . . . [and] two days after Heird’s death, another white inmate was found in the same living unit with blunt chest trauma. David Hollenbeck died three days later. He was named in the Aryan Nation letter as a specific target.
This is just the tip of the iceberg as defense attorneys begin to pour over the newly disclosed evidence. As noted by the Denver Post:
Chambers’ office had turned over 31,006 pages of evidence when Bueno’s capital murder trial began in 2008. As of this week, 65,429 pages have been disclosed. That means more evidence has come forward in the 17 months since Bueno’s conviction than before he was tried — and only, in large part, because the judge presiding over [the co-defendant's] case ordered it.
Filed under: Arapahoe County Cases, Criminal Cases, Death Penalty, Due Process, Prosecutorial Misconduct | Tagged: Criminal Law, Police Misconduct, Prosecutorial Misconduct | Leave a Comment »
Posted on September 28, 2009 by Andres Guevara
After nine days of deliberations, an Arapahoe County jury today found Aaron Thompson guilty in the disappearance and presumed death of his young daughter, Aarone. Aaron Thompson faced 57 criminal counts, including child abuse resulting in death, false reporting, and concealing the death of his daughter, Aarone, whose body has not been found.
A mistrial was declared on two counts accusing Thompson of conspiracy to abuse a corpse and abuse of a corpse after jurors failed to reach unanimous verdicts. Aaron Thompson was acquitted on the remaining 22 counts.
Sentencing is set for November 10
Source: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13438175
Filed under: Criminal Cases | Leave a Comment »
Posted on September 23, 2009 by Andres Guevara
For those unfamiliar with the Zazi case here in Denver (until, that is, it gets transferred to New York City), Najibullah Zazi is a Denver area limo driver who is in the center of a FBI anti-terrorism investigation that broke wide open (and very publically) about a week ago. At the time, this blog posted a brief summary of the current state of the investigation. (http://denvercriminalblog.com/2009/09/19/denver-area-man-arrested-for-alleged-terrorism-ties/ and http://denvercriminalblog.com/2009/09/15/fbi-claims-denver-link-to-anti-terrorism-probe/)
Now, it has only been a week into the investigation and questions are already being raised about the conduct of Mr. Zazi’s attorney. While it may be poor form to criticize the conduct of another attorney, especially when I don’t have access to all the information about what has occurred, many questions have been raised about the attorney’s ability to handle such a complicated case. See, for example, Mike Littwin’s piece in the Denver Post: http://www.denverpost.com/littwin/ci_13398393?.
The cautionary point for you is that if you have been arrested, you need to be extra careful to make sure that your attorney actually handles (and has extensive experience) defending individuals charged with similar crimes. Certain criminal charges require specific and unique expertise. There is far too much at risk for you to take a chance with someone who lacks experience. The great news is that Colorado has numerous highly qualified criminal attorneys and you should consider shopping around for the best fit for you and your case.
Filed under: Criminal Cases, Criminal Defense | Leave a Comment »
Posted on September 23, 2009 by Andres Guevara
Stacy Clendenin, a waitress and medicinal marijuana user, is appealing her 2008 conviction for marijuana distribution in Boulder County. During her trial, Ms. Clendenin argued that she provided other individuals with marijuana (for medicinal purposes) through a cooperative and that she was not a “drug dealer” as the prosecution argued. For their part, the prosecution alleged Mr. Clendenin did not have personal contact with the people she supplied and that “someone who doesn’t have personal contact with clients cannot be their medical marijuana provider.”
In her appeal, Ms. Clendenin also pointed to a decision by the trial court that precluded testimony from a dozen witnesses who would have testified that they received marijuana for medicinal purposes from Ms. Clendenin through a cooperative she supplied.
This case once again points out the hypocrisy and lack of clarity in Colorado marijuana laws. While the state provides medical marijuana licenses (Ms. Clendenin and all of her “buyers” had medical marijuana licenses), the local municipalities haven’t decided how to permit or regulate places that dispense marijuana. And with few marijuana dispensaries in the Front Range, people who need the drug (and have a medical license permitting their use of the drug) can find it difficult to actually get the medical aid they require. Moreover, people like Ms. Clendenin–who provide marijuana to a cooperative which then dispenses it to people with licenses–could find themselves facing felony distribution charges.
If you have been arrested for the sale or possession of marijuana, you can call The Law Office of Andres R. Guevara for a free consultation at (720) 379-8262.
Source: http://www.denverpost.com/crime/ci_13393413
Filed under: Marijuana | Leave a Comment »
