Prosecutors in the James Holmes case have sent an e-mail to victims clarifying that they are allowed to speak to Holmes’s attorneys if they want. Judge Carlos Samour ordered prosecutors to send the e-mail (on view below) after defense attorneys complained that prosecutors were discouraging victims from talking to them…
Jaywalking, punishable in Denver by a simple fine, led the police to arrest 46-year-old Gregory Carter last week for a much bigger crime: sexual assault. The police stopped Carter for jaywalking and then realized he was wanted for the 2012 sexual assault of a 23-year-old woman. DNA linked him to…
In February 2012, the Harm Reduction Action Center, Denver’s biggest needle exchange program, began distributing clean syringes under a 2010 state law that made such transactions legal. In November 2012, the program discovered that an old city ordinance allowed needle-exchange participants to legally carry syringes, exempting them from the laws…
The psychiatrist tasked with evaluating Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes to determine if he was insane at the time of the crime will be allowed to videotape the examination, according to a recent ruling by Judge Carlos Samour (on view below). See also: What happens when accused killers plead…
The disorderly conduct case against a man who dropped the F-bomb at an Aurora Sam’s Club has been dropped. Russell Blackburn, the 59-year-old computer programmer ticketed for the offense, says he showed up for his July 15 jury trial only to hear the prosecuting attorney tell the judge that the…
No one won the election. That’s the opinion of the Broomfield District Court judge tasked with sorting out last November’s Adams 12 Five Star school board election, in which ineligible candidate Amy Speers earned two-thirds of the vote and eligible candidate Rico Figueroa earned a third. Both were running to…
The trial of Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes is now scheduled to begin on December 8. Judge Carlos Samour set that date at a hearing today over objections from Holmes’s attorneys, who argued that it wouldn’t give them enough time to analyze a second sanity evaluation of Holmes that’s…
Aurora theater shooting gunman James Holmes has been videotaped 24 hours a day, seven days a week since he was detained, according to a letter from the psychiatrist appointed to perform Holmes’s second sanity evaluation (on view below). Holmes was arrested on July 20, 2012 in the parking lot of…
When Kristen Kozik, who owns the Copper Kettle Brewing Company with her husband, first heard about the horrific shooting at the Aurora Century 16 theater on July 20, 2012, she never imagined she’d know someone involved. It wasn’t until the authorities released a list of the twelve people killed that…
First, the sad news (or not-so-sad news, depending on how you feel about hunky sitcom actors): Ashton Kutcher will not be filming a movie in Colorado this year. Or at least he won’t be filming The Violent Separation of Flesh and Blood, a Western-type flick that was approved in May…
Lack of documentation, untimely reviews and an organizational structure that sometimes results in the watchdog office investigating the very department that oversees its contract were some of the issues identified in the first-ever audit of the three-year-old Office of Colorado’s Child Protection Ombudsman. The office began operating in 2011 with…
Should saying the F-word at Sam’s Club be a crime? Russell Blackburn doesn’t think so. Back in January, the 59-year-old Blackburn was checking out at an Aurora Sam’s Club. He paid for his dog food, cheese, milk and other items and then stood at the end of a long line…
The trial of Aurora theater shooting gunman James Holmes will be postponed again. Jury selection for Holmes’s trial was scheduled to begin on October 14. However, the examiner tasked with conducting a second sanity evaluation of Holmes has requested more time to complete that examination. Instead of an August 15…
Prosecutors in the Aurora theater shooting case deny that they are discouraging victims from talking to lawyers for gunman James Holmes. In a recent motion (on view below), they claim they’ve told victims they’re free to speak with Holmes’s lawyers if they choose — though they add that some victims…
Jim Denny has 7,500 square feet of hemp plants and a problem: His homeowners association has found that his plants are a violation of the HOA rules and has ordered him to “replace” them by the end of next week. The reason? The HOA board says that Denny failed to…
James Holmes’s attorneys are accusing state prosecutors of discouraging Aurora theater shooting victims from talking to them, according to a motion filed this week (and on view below). They argue that prosecutor Lisa Teesch-Maguire sent an e-mail to victims with the message that efforts by Holmes’s attorneys to contact them…
Sandy Ebersohl has a way with men. By all accounts, the 48-year-old Colorado Springs woman has been quick to attract them, both in person and on Internet dating sites. But over the past twenty years, Ebersohl has also turned many of their lives into hell on earth. Westword recently obtained…
The industrial hemp growing registration period is open again — and it will stay that way year-round from now on, thanks to a bill passed by lawmakers earlier this year. The bill, which was signed into law on May 31 and is on view below, removes the annual May 1…
The public, and the media, will be allowed to attend jury selection in the trial of accused Aurora theater shooter James Holmes. Attorneys in the case requested that the proceedings be closed to the public, but Judge Carlos Samour ruled this week that the selection process will be open. It…
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by seven Denver teachers who claim that the district used a provision of the state’s landmark teacher effectiveness law to get rid of them without due process. Denver District Court Judge Michael Martinez found that since the law makes no mention of “tenure,”…
The City of Denver is appealing a judge’s decision that the city’s “failure to reasonably maintain” Red Rocks amphitheater caused a rockfall that injured several people in 2011. Denver owns Red Rocks and had asked the judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by four people who were injured in the…
This week’s feature, “In Sickness and In Health,” tells the story of Jen Berman, who lost her fiance, Doug Furcht, to brain cancer last year. On Saturday, June 7, she and other supporters will participate in the annual Denver Brain Tumor Walk at Sloan’s Lake Park, which raises money for…
