Arapahoe DA Withheld Critical Evidence in Death Penalty Case

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 [...]

Aarone Thompson case: Guilty on 31 of 55 Charges Filed

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 [...]

The Need for Competant Counsel: a Warning from the Zazi Case

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 [...]

Woman Appeals Pot Verdict on Grounds She Provided Medicinal Marijuana

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 [...]

Denver Area Man Arrested for Alleged Terrorism Ties

Today, the FBI arrested Denver area resident Najibullah Zazi and his father based on allegations of suspected ties between the two men and  a New York City group of alleged terrorists.  According to the New York Times, the two men and the FBI were involved in several days of negotiations and although the nature of [...]

Denver Inmate Hangs Himself

Today, a 25 year old man hung himself in Denver County Jail while awaiting extradition to Kansas for a meth charge.   Thomas Allen Barton had just completed a fifteen day sentence for shoplifting.  Clearly, Mr. Barton was struggling with personal demons and its unfortunate that either no one saw the warning signs or came to his aid [...]

Q: If the Police Ask to Interview Me about Criminal Allegations, Should I Speak? A: No Way, No How

The answer to the question of whether you should speak with the police on the surface seems like a tough choice.  We live in a society that encourages all of us to speak with the police, to answer their questions and assist them in their investigations.  Its part of our upbringing.  In fact, people are [...]

Indiana Becomes Latest State to Require All Admissible Interrogations to be Taped. Colorado Has No Such Requriement

The Indiana Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a new rule requiring electronic audio-video recordings of suspect interrogations before statements from the interviews can be entered into evidence in felony court proceedings. Defense attorneys welcomed the news. “Hallelujah,” Fort Wayne attorney Nikos Nakos said. “I think that’s wonderful. That will certainly cut down on the trials, [...]

FBI Claims Denver Link to Anti-Terrorism Probe

The Denver Post reported today that there may be a Denver connection to a purported terrorist plot out of New York.  The suspect, “a man known to friends as Najibullah,” purported traveled to New York from Colorado and the FBI suspects that he is connected to a group looking to plant bombs in New York [...]

Violent Crimes Down Again

FBI figures released today show that nationwide violent crimes are down for the second year in a row and property crimes are also down.  Still, Colorado continues to construct prisons (the DOC requested over $400 million in prison expansion) and the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition (CCJRC) reports that the prison population will continue to [...]

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