In Colorado, the Court of Appeals has the option of publishing an opinion or of not publishing it.  The Court of Appeals does not publish the majority of opinions.  A published opinion has future precedential value for other cases.  This means that the law in a published opinion becomes Colorado law that trial judges have to follow.  By contrast, an unpublished opinion only affects the defendant in that particular case.  Any law written by the Court of Appeals in an unpublished opinion has no future precedential affect.

People v. Cushinberry, 855 P.2d 18 (Colo.App. 1992)  (judgment affirmed)

People v. Kelley, 895 P.2d 1080 (Colo.App. 1994) (judgment affirmed)

People v. Ambrose, 907 P.2d 613 (Colo.App. 1994) (theft conviction reversed)

LaShawn Harris v. People, 888 P.2d 259 (Colo. 1995) (first-degree assault conviction reversed) (this case involved prosecutorial misconduct by Craig Silverman, a former Denver DA and current criminal defense lawyer and radio talk show host)

People v. Hansen, 920 P.2d 831 (Colo.App. 1995) (judgment affirmed)

People v. Andrew G. Harris, 914 P.2d 434 (Colo.App. 1995) (judgment affirmed)

People v. Lyons, 907 P.2d 708 (Colo.App. 1995) (sexual assault on a child conviction reversed)

People v. Melanson, 937 P.2d 826 (Colo.App. 1996) (judgment affirmed)

People v. Taylor, 41 P.3d 681 (Colo. 2002) (suppression of evidence affirmed)

People v. Campbell, 58 P.3d 1080 (Colo.App. 2002) (judgment affirmed)

People v. Lee, 93 P.3d 544 (Colo.App. 2003) (judgment affirmed)

People v. Medina, 72 P.3d 405 (Colo.App. 2003) (judgment affirmed)

Campbell v. People, 73 P.3d 11 (Colo. 2003) (judgment affirmed)

People v. Sharp, 155 P.3d 577 (Colo. App. 2006) (sexual assault on a child convictions reversed)

People v. Rubio, 222 P.3d 355 (Colo. App. April 16, 2009) (three convictions for attempted extreme indifference murder reversed)

People v. Robb, 215 P.3d 1253 (Colo. App. April 16, 2009) (computer crime conviction reversed; cross-appeal by prosecution on restitution denied)

People v. Curren, 228 P.3d 253 (Colo. App. November 25, 2009) (Order vacating two first-degree murder convictions affirmed – see 35(c) wins – and case remanded with directions — on remand, Tom Carberry and Mark Burton represented Mr. Curren at trial.  See Trial Wins.  The jury acquitted of both counts of first-degree murder.

People v. Montoya, 251 P.3d 35 (Colo. App. 2010)  (Conviction for sexual assault on a child, case remanded to the district court for a hearing on the voluntariness of the waiver of a jury trial) (on remand the trial court vacated the conviction)

Churchill v. University of Colorado at Boulder, ___ P.3d ___, 2010 WL 5099682 (Colo. App. 2010) (trial court’s JNOV affirmed).  The Colorado Supreme Court granted Professor Churchill’s petition a writ of certiorari on May 31, 2011.  On September 12, 2011, Professor Churchill’s team of lawyers (including Tom Carberry) filed our Opening Brief in the Supreme Court.  The team includes David Lane, Robert Bruce, and Antony Noble.  The team owes a special thanks to Professor Natsu Taylor Saito for her invaluable work, as well as Lauren Fontana.  Thanks also to the ACLU for its Amicus Curia brief and to the National Lawyers Guild and other friends for their brief.

People v. Mares, ___ P.3d ___, 2011 WL 1195776 (Colo. App. 2011) (convictions for murder and first-degree assault affirmed).  Petition for writ of certiorari pending.