Tag: mesa county
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Appeals court decides violations of child custody orders may be prosecuted per child
Colorado’s second-highest court concluded for the first time on Wednesday that a defendant may be charged with violating a child custody order based on the number of children affected, not the number of orders violated. Mesa County jurors convicted Tiffany Jean Wilson on four counts of violating a custody order. She drove off with her…
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Federal judge rejects Tina Peters’ request for release pending appeal
A federal judge rejected the petition of former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters on Monday to be released from incarceration pending the resolution of her criminal appeal. Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Scott T. Varholak wrote in a Dec. 8 order that Peters satisfied none of the criteria that permit federal courts to intervene in ongoing…
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Appeals court wipes away defendant’s $66,000 restitution obligation after trial judge did not follow law
Colorado’s second-highest court voided a defendant’s obligation to pay more than $66,000 in crime victim restitution last week, finding a Mesa County judge neglected to follow the process laid out in state law. In Colorado, as part of sentencing, judges must consider whether defendants owe financial restitution to their victims. If so, prosecutors generally need to…
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Mesa County judge wrong to conclude hatchet not a ‘knife,’ says appeals court
Colorado’s second-highest court determined last week that a Mesa County judge incorrectly reduced a defendant’s menacing charge from a felony to a misdemeanor after finding his hatchet did not meet the definition of “knife.” A person commits menacing as a misdemeanor if they use threats or physical actions to place another person in fear of…
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Colorado EDC approves incentives to bring new fabrication facility to El Paso County
A mechanical contracting and systems engineering company is considering opening a new fabrication facility in Monument, north of Colorado Springs. The Colorado Economic Development Commission approved up to $453,000 in Strategic Fund incentives to the unnamed company labeled as “Project Cobalt” on Thursday. The EDC often does not disclose company names to protect confidentiality throughout…
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Colorado justices consider whether man can be convicted for convincing mom to lie for him
There was no dispute that Michael Thomas Hupke asked his mother to lie to his parole officer on his behalf. Further, Hupke acknowledged Mesa County prosecutors could have charged him as an accomplice to his mother’s deceit, or for soliciting her to do it. But Hupke maintained prosecutors could not do what they actually did:…
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Appeals judge urges Colorado Supreme Court to analyze alimony obligations after spouses’ remarriage
A member of Colorado’s second-highest court urged the state Supreme Court on Thursday to address a question that has produced inconsistent answers over five decades: When divorcing spouses agree that one must pay the other alimony, do they need to explicitly mention what will happen if the receiving spouse gets remarried? The purpose of alimony,…
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Wildfire update: Containment efforts continue on several blazes in western Colorado
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Containment efforts continue on several wildfires in western Colorado, including two that started over the weekend, according to incident officials. The Elkhorn fire, burning on La Plata County and U.S. Forest Service land northwest of Durango, has more than doubled in size since Sunday, officials…
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Wildfires update: 2 new blazes force evacuations in southwest Colorado
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save As emergency crews continue to gain containment on a series of wildfires in western Colorado, two new blazes have forced evacuations in La Plata County in the southwest region of the state, according to fire officials. The Elkhorn fire, which is burning on county and…
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Appeals court expresses ‘some concerns’ with Mesa County judge’s cookie analogy
Colorado second-highest court expressed “some concerns” last week about a Mesa County judge’s comparison of a defendant’s constitutional right to silence to a hypothetical child who has obviously eaten cookies but refuses to admit it. However, a three-judge Court of Appeals panel agreed the illustration did not undermine the fairness of the trial because then-District…