This podcast covers case summaries distributed on 8/29/2025 & 9/5/2025

Cases:

In re. People v. Bell, 25SA254; the Supreme Court issued an order to show cause why the postconviction court did not err in finding that it lacked authority to order the prosecution to provide trial discovery to the defense.

People v. Lopez, 2025COA73 (Aug. 26, 2025); First-degree assault under § 18-3-202(1)(a) remains a per se grave or serious offense after Wells-Yates, and the 21-year sentence imposed in this case is not unconstitutionally harsh. The postconviction court did not err in summarily denying Lopez's claims of ineffective assistance of counsel because they were all conclusory.

UNPUBLISHED People v. Kelly, 23CA1685 (Aug. 28, 2025); The district court made legally insufficient findings when denying Mr. Kelly's Rule 35(b) motion for reconsideration of sentence.

U.S. v. Harrison, 23-6028 (Aug. 26, 2025); Application of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3), which prohibits firearm possession by anyone who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance, to non-intoxicated marijuana users.

People in Interest of A. F., 2025COA76 (September 4, 2025) A caseworker's expert testimony in a dependency and neglect proceeding is subject to CRE 702 and the analysis outlined in People v. Shreck, 22 P.3d 68 (Colo. 2001), including the requirement of specific findings as to admissibility.

UNPUBLISHED People v. Everett, 22CA0003 (Sept. 4, 2025); The district court erred by failing to give the jury a statutorily required cautionary instruction when admitting child hearsay under section 13-25-129.

UNPUBLISHED People v. Tatom, 23CA0332 (Sept. 4, 2025); The second degree assault predicate offense for first degree burglary merged into the conviction for first degree burglary.

United States v. Blasdel, 24-5071, 2025 WL 2502304 (10th Cir. Sept. 2, 2025); Police search was unconstitutional once illegally obtained information was excised and the search could not be saved by the good faith exception.

United States v. Kearney, 24-2078, 2025 WL 2502273 (10th Cir. Sept. 2, 2025); Provision of incorrect jury instructions meant that the jury was not required to find the correct mens rea for the offense charged. The trial court plainly erred by including only the false-return count and not the conspiracy count when instructing the jury on Kearney's advice-of-counsel defense.

United States v. Morgan, 24-3141, 2025 WL 2502968 (10th Cir. Sept. 2, 2025); In an unhelpful opinion, the panel rejected Morgan's Second Amendment challenge to §922(o) because he did not meet his burden under Bruen step one to show that his machineguns are "arms" protected by the Second Amendment—that they are " 'in common use' today for self-defense."

Scott v. Allen, No. 24-1349 (10th Cir. Sept. 3, 2025); Scott had standing to pursue both a facial and an as-applied constitutional challenge to § 18-9-313(2.7), which makes it unlawful to publish personal information about a "protected person" if the publisher knows or should know that disseminating the information could pose an "imminent and serious threat" to the protected person. In this case, the protected person was a Colorado State Trooper.

Carter v. U.S., No. 23-0388 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 28, 2025); When deciding whether a reasonable person would be seized by police conduct, it was reasonable and appropriate to consider both the officer's conduct and whether an objective and reasonable person sharing the defendant's generalized lived experiences arising out of their racial status would have felt free to terminate the police encounter.

Links:

People v. Bell, 25SA254, Rule 21 Petition

https://files.constantcontact.com/45bb5db5401/774f316f-390c-42b3-8228-78dc6d32075a.pdf?rdr=true

People v. Lopez, 2025COA73 (Aug. 26, 2025)

https://files.constantcontact.com/45bb5db5401/c779447b-4d1b-4b41-90e0-64ae37d40904.pdf?rdr=true

UNPUBLISHED People v. Kelly, 23CA1685 (Aug. 28, 2025)

https://files.constantcontact.com/45bb5db5401/0231dab8-eec4-4f03-9bd0-eb3a7db091aa.pdf?rdr=true

U.S. v. Harrison, 23-6028 (Aug. 26, 2025)

https://files.constantcontact.com/45bb5db5401/5a372590-77f6-4cf9-b997-5c78e0087bfc.pdf?rdr=true

34 of 2025 Victory Newsletter

https://files.constantcontact.com/45bb5db5401/b535206c-a4c3-4b36-bd96-432079f96705.pdf?rdr=true

People in Interest of A. F. 2025COA76

https://files.constantcontact.com/45bb5db5401/f29946a9-7d5f-486f-92e4-158459599322.pdf?rdr=true

UNPUBLISHED People v. Everett, 22CA0003 (Sept. 4, 2025)

https://files.constantcontact.com/45bb5db5401/f297b8bb-d3ba-429c-b6a0-9ea660ce2f96.pdf?rdr=true

UNPUBLISHED People v. Tatom, 23CA0332 (Sept. 4, 2025)

https://files.constantcontact.com/45bb5db5401/4fea56a7-aa29-4fb2-8c2d-b4b608429a72.pdf?rdr=true

Carter v. U.S. No. 23-0388 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 28, 2025)

https://files.constantcontact.com/45bb5db5401/a34373a3-8aca-4f26-bfe6-0e21264254bb.pdf?rdr=true

United States v. Kearney, 24-2078, 2025 WL 2502273 (10th Cir. Sept. 2, 2025)

https://files.constantcontact.com/45bb5db5401/7cc08dcb-89f6-4de9-b857-a2dd19141a2a.docx?rdr=true

United States v. Blasdel, 24-5071, 2025 WL 2502304 (10th Cir. Sept. 2, 2025)

https://files.constantcontact.com/45bb5db5401/b4c12101-6662-4ba8-a8b1-3dad811cfa6e.docx?rdr=true

United States v. Morgan, 24-3141, 2025 WL 2502968 (10th Cir. Sept. 2, 2025)

https://files.constantcontact.com/45bb5db5401/a9c104ea-e151-4e07-b801-f33c3aeba956.docx?rdr=true

Scott v. Allen, No. 24-01349 (10th Cir. Sep 09, 2024)

https://files.constantcontact.com/45bb5db5401/d093abc6-7aaa-402b-afc2-74aa73bb79fe.pdf?rdr=true

35 of 2025 Victory Newsletter

https://files.constantcontact.com/45bb5db5401/035e13ec-4db5-4916-9317-11876499150d.pdf?rdr=true

Class Action Complaint

https://files.constantcontact.com/45bb5db5401/838da414-20d4-49d3-bb43-d69703de5c0b.pdf?rdr=true

Contact Shawndell Irving here: Shawndell Irving

Music by Scott Holmes. Used under a Creative Commons license. Download today's music at: http://freemusicarchive.org/

NOTE regarding unpublished Colorado Court of Appeals opinions: Please remember the Court of Appeals Policy states that the citation of unpublished opinions in the Court of Appeals is forbidden, with limited exceptions. Copies of unpublished opinions are provided for private use and are not to be included in an electronic database or otherwise published. Also, please note that you are free to cite unpublished cases in the district court for whatever persuasive value the judge may give them. Patterson v. James, 2018 COA 173, ¶¶ 40-43. You may request unpublished cases from the COA at http://www.courts.state.co.us/Courts/Court_Of_Appeals/Opinion_Request.cfm