Tag: miranda v. arizona
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Colorado Springs officers’ tasing, threats prompt federal judge to block use of suspect’s statements
A federal judge blocked the government last month from using some of a defendant’s statements as evidence, reasoning that the defendant made them involuntarily as Colorado Springs officers tased him five times and one officer threatened to kill him. Officers responded one morning in June 2025 to a theft call from a plumbing store in…
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Boulder County prosecutor improperly used defendant’s silence as guilt, appeals court finds
Colorado’s second-highest court reversed a Boulder County defendant’s sexual assault conviction last week after concluding that a trial judge should have intervened to stop the prosecutor from inappropriately using the man’s constitutional right to silence to suggest he was guilty. Prosecutors charged Charles G. Higdon III with two counts of sexual assault. Jurors acquitted him…
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Colorado justices, by 5-2, say Longmont detective did not violate suspect’s Miranda rights
The Colorado Supreme Court’s majority ruled on Monday that a Longmont detective did not coerce a suspect into talking by making references to how a judge would look at his character, and by suggesting he may get out of prison “in time to see your son’s prom.” Under the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Miranda…
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Colorado justices consider whether Denver police failed to respect suspect’s right to counsel
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court considered on Thursday whether Denver detectives improperly restarted their interrogation of a murder suspect who had clearly invoked his constitutional right to an attorney. The district attorney’s office characterized the circumstances as “peculiar.” When police initially brought in Dakotah Lulei for questioning, he was not under arrest. After receiving…
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Appeals court says requirement that parents be ‘present’ during child interrogations does not mean ‘attentive’
Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday that the requirement for parents to be present when police interrogate their child in custody means only that the parent must be “physically present,” not “mentally present” as well. Under the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona, law enforcement is required to inform a suspect of their rights…
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Colorado justices say child welfare workers not required to give Miranda warning before interrogating parents
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that child welfare workers are not required to give a Miranda warning to parents before interrogating them in custody, even if the interview or the notes will later be shared with prosecutors and used against the parent at trial. Miranda warnings, named after the landmark U.S. Supreme Court…
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Federal judge finds Miranda violation in interrogation of Denver firearms suspect
A federal judge concluded on Friday that a Denver police sergeant interrogated a man who was under arrest for a suspected firearms offense while failing to provide a Miranda warning first. U.S. District Court Judge S. Kato Crews acknowledged that defendant Dayvon Vaughns may not have said anything incriminating during the questioning, and his statements…
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Colorado Supreme Court wary of requiring child welfare workers to give Miranda warnings prior to interrogations
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court seemed hesitant on Wednesday to endorse the idea that child welfare workers must provide a Miranda warning before interrogating a parent in custody, even if the conversation will later be used in a criminal prosecution. The state’s Court of Appeals previously upheld the murder convictions of two men, both…
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Colorado Supreme Court finds Aurora police committed no Miranda violation when interrogating suspect
Aurora police did not need to provide a Miranda warning to a road rage suspect before interrogating him outside his apartment building in an accusatory manner, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday. Under the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Miranda v. Arizona, law enforcement must inform suspects of their constitutional rights to remain silent…
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Colorado justices reverse murder conviction for police interrogation lacking Miranda warning
A woman convicted of murdering her husband in a Moffat County motel room will receive a new trial after the Colorado Supreme Court concluded on Monday that police failed to provide a Miranda warning before interrogating her. Rachel Ann Niemeyer and Michael Adam Freese were intoxicated and handling a rifle when the gun went off and…