Colorado

Lawyer Hits PD on Bike, Gets 9 Years in Drunken-Driving Case

A corporate lawyer in Colorado who drove his sport-utility vehicle into a bicycling Jefferson County deputy public defender last summer has been sentenced to nine years after pleading guilty to vehicular assault while driving drunk. Jeffrey Scott Detlefs, 57, could have his jail sentence reviewed after he serves at least…

Apr 13, 2010 11:38 PM CDT

Service Animals Now Welcome at Office of Lawyer Sued for Banning Dog

A Colorado lawyer will pay $50,000 and his law firm will post a “Service Animals Welcome” sign to settle a Justice Department complaint that he refused to allow a brain-damaged woman to bring her service dog to a deposition at his offices. Attorney Patric LeHouillier of Colorado Springs will also…

Mar 31, 2010 12:08 PM CDT

Federal Judge Green-Lights Suit Over Inmate’s 27-Year Solitary Confinement

A federal judge has given the green light to litigation being pursued by University of Denver law students on behalf of an inmate held in solitary confinement since 1983. District Judge Philip Brimmer this week rejected a motion by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to dismiss inmate Tommy Silverstein’s constitutional…

Mar 25, 2010 4:34 PM CDT

Colo. Lawyer Discipline Chief to Review Ethics Case Against Maricopa, Ariz., County Attorney

The Arizona Supreme Court has appointed the head of the Colorado Supreme Court’s attorney discipline office to oversee an investigation of ethics charges against the Maricopa, Ariz., county attorney, the Arizona Republic reports. Attorney Andrew Thomas has made headlines in recent months by bringing criminal charges and civil racketeering litigation…

Mar 24, 2010 9:54 PM CDT

Scam Defendant Accused of Starting New Fraud to Pay Lawyer in First Case

Prosecutors say a Colorado man paid the lawyer defending him in an investment scam with funds from a new scheme started while he was being prosecuted in the first case. Hamilton Alan Bird was indicted in the new case on Tuesday, according to the Denver Post and the Colorado Springs…

Mar 17, 2010 1:00 PM CDT

Law Firms Join Other Companies to Form Clean Tech Incubator

Two Denver-based law firms have joined with other companies to operate a Colorado incubator intended to help start-up businesses focused on renewable-energy and energy-efficient technology. By joining in the new CleanLaunch Technology Incubator, the two law firms, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and Fairfield and Woods, are in a position to…

Feb 17, 2010 6:16 PM CST

Woman Who Faked Cancer and Raised $30K Will Get Probation

A 29-year-old Colorado woman whose lies about having cancer prompted friends and family to help her raise $30,000 for treatment has pleaded guilty to felony charitable fraud. Tausha Marsh—a one-time Western State College volleyball athlete—was reported to authorities after donors began to suspect the she’d been lying about her illness,…

Feb 10, 2010 1:30 PM CST

Denver Law School Names New Dean

The University of Denver has named Martin Katz dean of its Sturm College of Law. Katz, who has served as interim dean since July, has been a member of the law school faculty since 2000, according to a law school news release. Before joining academia, Katz was a partner in…

Feb 10, 2010 1:14 PM CST

Colo. Governor Wants State Supreme Court to Address Campaign Finance Law

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter announced plans to take a dispute over campaign finance laws directly to the state supreme court today. Ritter’s chief legal counsel, Trey Rogers, told the Associated Press that the governor is asking the court to determine if state campaign finance laws are unconstitutional in light of…

Feb 9, 2010 7:08 PM CST

Faegre & Benson Partner Killed in Midair Collision

A Faegre & Benson partner piloting his Cirrus SR20 was among three people killed Saturday in a midair collision some 8,000 feet above Boulder, Colo. Robert Matthews, 58, and his 56-year-old brother, Mark, were killed along with the pilot of the other small plane, a Piper Pawnee. But a pilot…

Feb 8, 2010 6:49 PM CST

Is Bragging About Yourself a Crime? Courts Consider the Question for Military Service Fibs

Federal courts in California and Colorado are grappling with whether the First Amendment protects those who brag or exaggerate about their past, and specifically lie about being war heroes. At the center of the two cases against men who claimed to have received a U.S. military medal is the Stolen…

Feb 8, 2010 11:57 AM CST

Dad in ‘Balloon Boy’ Hoax Gets 90 Days and Mom Gets 20 Days

The parents who falsely reported in October that their 6-year-old son was aloft above Colorado in an experimental helium balloon that accidentally launched have been sentenced to brief jail terms followed by four years of probation. During that four-year period, ruled Larimer County Judge Stephen Schapanski, neither can profit from…

Dec 23, 2009 6:52 PM CST

Immigrants Have Privacy Right in Tax Files, Colo. High Court Says

Prosecutors improperly searched tax records for evidence that undocumented immigrants had used others’ Social Security numbers, the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled. The prosecutors served a search warrant last year on a tax preparer’s office in Greeley, Colo., looking through 5,000 files to charge more than 70 people with identity…

Dec 15, 2009 4:38 PM CST

Lawyer Finds Bronze Star During Law Firm Coat Drive

A Denver-area lawyer going through pockets of donated coats during his law firm’s coat drive had an unusual find: a Bronze Star. Lawyer Brett Buchheit told the Denver Post the medal was wrapped in a sandwich bag inside a black leather coat that looked like something you’d wear to a…

Dec 8, 2009 12:23 PM CST

Parents Take Plea in ‘Balloon Boy’ Hoax

The parents of a 6-year-old boy who was reported to be aloft in an experimental balloon last month but actually was hiding at home in an alleged hoax intended to promote a reality television program, have agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges concerning the Oct. 15 incident. Richard Heene…

Nov 12, 2009 7:13 PM CST