Biggest Challenges Facing Juvenile and Family Court Judges

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges’ 81st annual conference is slated to take place in Denver beginning on Sunday, July 22. The event will be attended by hundreds of judges and court personnel from across the country on the front lines of societal crises representing every size, shape and description, including the opioid epidemic, human trafficking and separation of families at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Death Metaller Christian Gulzow Guilty in Torchy’s Tacos Murder

A jury has found Christian Gulzow guilty of second-degree murder in the 2017 slaying of Brian Lucero in the parking lot of Torchy’s Tacos, near 11th and Broadway, and its members reached this conclusion without any help from me. I can now reveal that I was subpoenaed in the case but didn’t wind up testifying.

Safety in Denver: Assault Totals for All 78 Mile High City Neighborhoods

According to Denver Police Department data, the number of assaults in the Mile High City as a whole is up 9.5 percent during the first part of 2018 compared to the same period last year. But the scope of the problem varies widely from place to place, as seen in our analysis of assault statistics for all 78 official Denver neighborhoods.

No Arrests in More Than Half of 312 Denver Homicides

From January 1, 2010 to the end of February 2017, nearly half of 312 homicides that took place in Denver didn’t result in an arrest. Moreover, the victims in cases either closed without anyone being taken into custody or still unsolved were overwhelmingly black or Hispanic.

FBI Agent Chase Bishop Finally Jailed for Mile High Spirits Backflip Shooting

Today, FBI agent Chase Bishop, who became a national laughingstock after he accidentally shot Thomas Reddington while executing a back flip at Mile High Spirits Distillery during the wee hours of June 2, turned himself in to the Denver Sheriff’s Department. He was promptly arrested and is currently being held on suspicion of second-degree assault.

Inside Denver’s Revolutionary Juneteenth/Father’s Day Bail-Out

This week, Elisabeth Epps, co-lead of the Denver Justice Project, is raising funds for what she’s dubbed the Juneteenth/Father’s Day Bail Out, an initiative that aims to pay bonds for low-level male offenders who can’t afford to do so in time for them to spend the upcoming holidays with their families or loved ones.

Denver Neighborhoods With the Fewest Pedestrians Hit by Cars

From 2012 through last month, more than 3,000 pedestrians were hit by cars in Denver, and as we recently noted, several neighborhoods in the city have suffered accidents of this type numbering in the hundreds over that span. In contrast, the ten parts of Mile High spotlighted below experienced the fewest pedestrian-car crashes. But that hardly means they got off scot-free.

Claim: Denver DA’s Resentencing of Some Juvenile Lifers Is Illegal

Former Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey is blunt when asked about several cases in which Beth McCann, his successor as Denver DA, has resentenced men who were convicted of felony murder and other charges when they were juveniles during the 1990s, resulting in their time behind bars being substantially lessened. In his view, she’s breaking the law.

Aurora Theater Attack Victim’s Parents Visit Santa Fe, Texas

After the May 18 assault at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, in which eight students and two teachers were killed and thirteen wounded, Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, who became gun law reform activists following the murder of their daughter, Jessica Ghawi, during the 2012 Aurora theater shooting, traveled to the scene with the goal of using their experience to help prepare those who lost loved ones for the many traumas to come.