Faulty chemist reports in 206 DUI cases in Colorado Springs have resulted in the dismissal or reduction of charges in 9 cases, including 5 where the defendants had already served time. The faulty testing resulted in higher blood alcohols being reported.

The mistakes were discovered when two chemists were given proficiency tests and one failed. Local defense attorney Tim Busey, filed an open records request to obtain some of the documents related to the errors says:

“Every person in the county needs to be concerned about that lab,” he said. “To simply blame it on one analyst is to ignore the fact that any lab is a system of checks and balances from the lab to the certifying agency, which in this case is the department of health.”

A summary of the nine cases is here.

The White House has announced that President Obama has nominated John Walsh for Colorado U.S. Attorney, ending a long and bumpy process. Walsh, was born in New York but grew up in Denver. He is in private practice. He served as an AUSA in Los Angeles from 1987 to 1995, and has emphasized gun crimes and economic crimes as a priority. Republicans like Walsh, I expect he'll be confirmed easily. As one put it, ""We're not going to get a Republican appointed, so why not take the best of the Democrats?"

The Denver Post endorsed Walsh for Denver D.A. in 2004 when he lost to our current D.A., Mitch Morrissey. It liked his promise to strengthen juvenile diversion, prevention programs and drug courts.

The Pueblo Chieftain reports Walsh has made significant contributions to the campaigns of Obama, Mark Udall and Ken Salazar. The other contender for the position, Pueblo D.A. Joe Thiebaut, did not.

Walsh was also under consideration for a federal judgeship. From a practical standpoint, it will be interesting to see what changes Walsh makes in leadership positions inside the office.

A federal judge in Denver today ordered the Government to transport former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio, serving a 6 year sentence at Minersville, PA, to court in Denver to appear at a hearing to decide if his request to waive his appearance at his re-sentencing is knowing and voluntary. The Court of Appeals previously ruled Nacchio's sentence was not properly calculated and he should be resentenced to less time.

This is not good news for Nacchio, unless he's somehow able to convince the Marshals to allow him to pay for and fly on a private jet(which would include the cost of two or more Marshals to accompany him) which I don't know is even allowed. He'll be flying on JPats, aka, Con Air. [More...]

Last week I wrote that Aspen's much beloved, long-time sheriff, Bob Braudis, decided not to run for re-election. He's been Sheriff for 24 years and a great one, who believes, among other things, the best jail is an empty one.

I was troubled that Aspen police officer Rick Magnuson, whose views are light years from Braudis, and who unsuccessfully challenged Braudis (with some dirty tricks) immediately announced he would run for the job in November. (Braudis raised 10 times the amount of money Magnuson raised in 2006, which tells you something about how the locals feel about their sheriff.)

Good news, Undersheriff Joe DiSalvo has thrown his hat in the ring. DiSalvo is a good guy who shares Braudis' enlightened philosophy. Like telling the DEA to stay out of Dodge. [More...]

So, Qatari diplomat Mohammed Al-Madadi, believed to have been sneaking a smoke during a flight to Denver, was en route to the prison at Florence, Colorado to check on the welfare of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, a Qatari citizen convicted of terrorism. (Plea Agreement here.)From the BOP website:

ALI SALEH KAHLAH AL-MARRI
#12194-026
44-White-M
01-18-2015
FLORENCE HIGH USP

Al-Marri was originally held in the South Carolina brig as an enemy combatant and transferred to civilian custody when he was indicted in Illinois for conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. He pleaded guilty was sentenced and is serving his time in Florence.

That's a perfectly proper basis for a visit. It's an important role of consular officials -- checking the welfare of citizens imprisoned in other countries. Al Marri had previously complained of abusive treatment. [More...]

Qatari diplomat al Madadi has been released from custody, cleared to fly back to D.C. and will not face charges.

Local news is reporting a state department official says Qatar will "withdraw" him, meaning he will go back to Qatar and that he has left for D.C.

The Qatar Ambassador, H.E. ALI BIN FAHAD AL-HAJRI, on the embassy's website, says he was flying on official business, at his instruction, and did nothing wrong. (the caps are their's)

"PRESS REPORTS TODAY REGARDING AN INCIDENT ABOARD A COMMERCIAL FLIGHT FROM WASHINGTON, DC TO DENVER, CO INDICATE THAT A QATARI DIPLOMAT WAS DETAINED FOR SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR. WE RESPECT THE NECESSITY OF SPECIAL SECURITY PRECAUTIONS INVOLVING AIR TRAVEL, BUT THIS DIPLOMAT WAS TRAVELING TO DENVER ON OFFICIAL EMBASSY BUSINESS ON MY INSTRUCTIONS, AND HE WAS CERTAINLY NOT ENGAGED IN ANY THREATENING ACTIVITY. THE FACTS WILL REVEAL THAT THIS WAS A MISTAKE, AND WE URGE ALL CONCERNED PARTIES TO AVOID RECKLESS JUDGMENTS OR SPECULATION.

Sounds like he's on his way back to D.C. (undoubtedly on a private jet) to clear out his residence and then will head back to Qatar or on to a post in another country.

Interesting bit of irony, via Majlis: Today the Qatar government stepped up its campaign against smoking in public in its own country.

Voters in Nederland, Colorado (15 miles west of Boulder) yesterday approved an initiative removing criminal penalties for adult marijuana offenses. The ordinance reads:

Shall the electors of the town of Nederland adopt an amendment to the Nederland town code, effective June 1, 2010, removing all criminal penalties under town law to buy, sell, possess, consume, transport, cultivate, manufacture and dispense marijuana and its concentrate and related paraphernalia by persons twenty one years of age and older?”

482 votes were tallied. On the marijuana initiative, the vote was 259 to 218.

In November, Breckenridge legalized possession of up to one ounce. Question: Is Nederland the first municipality to legalize selling of marijuana for recreational (vs. medical)use?

d-day:

Dan Froomkin now sizes up the insurance industry’s next move, and agrees that they will scrap for every advantage to turn the ACA even more to their advantage[.]

When the focus is on, as it was on the insurance companies' argument that they could elude the prohibition on discrimination against children with pre-existing conditions, the regulators won't be captured. But the Secretary of HHS can not maintain that level of scrutiny, even if they wanted to. And the assault will be constant. Here is the latest:

I thought there was something wrong with my Jeep's temperature read-out today, it showed 77 degrees. But it's 77 degrees inside my house right now. What's going on? Denver broke a 131 year record today. The high temperature was 82 degrees.

And what is up with the viewer voting on DWTS? How could Shannon Dougherty and Pamela Anderson be in the final two? How could Buzz Aldrin and the awful Kate Gosselin stay when the they got such dismal judge's scores last night? Pamela and Shannon weren't even in my bottom 5. Buzz or Kate definitely should have gone home instead.

Are any of you watching Breaking Bad on AMC? It may be the most depressing show ever but like Damages, it's good to see a crime show that isn't about glorifying cops. It's got a loyal and growing fan base and the unusual lead actor has won two emmys for the role. Both are so much better than shows like Castle, which got renewed today. Another crime show with promise, even though it's about a U.S. Marshal, is FX's Justified. [More...]

March for America and comprehensive immigration reform this Sunday. I hope you will all check out the ad on the right and do your part.

No human being is illegal. This is an opportunity to march for democracy, march for American workers, march for family unification and march for justice.

March 21, National Mall, Washington DC
March at 2:00 pm

In Grand Junction, Colorado, a strange odor in the Government census office resulted in a search warrant being executed next door and the discovery and seizure of 1,000 marijuana plants. Sid Squirrel, who owns the building and is a realtor, says the plants are his, and he's growing them in compliance with state law. Also found: 300 file folders containing cards of medical marijuana patients.

Colorado law allows patients to possess up to two ounces of marijuana or six plants. Patients can also designate a caregiver. So for each patient who designated Mr. Squirrel as his or her caregiver, Squirrel can grow 6 plants. If 300 patients designated him as a caregiver, he could grow 1,800 plants and be in compliance with state law.

Squirrel was not arrested yesterday. [More...]

Update: The judge has released the three questions asked by the jury during deliberations. The second one:

... a question asked yesterday about whether Clark could be found guilty of first-degree murder "as a result of being complicit." The judge said yes.

If, the judge wrote, "you find that another person committed all or part of either the crime of murder in the first degree (extreme indifference) or murder in the first degree (after deliberation)... then the defendant may be found guilty of either or both murder in the first degree."

Update: 12:08 pm. Foreman hands over verdict forms. Judge examines. Count 1: 1st degree murder: Guilty; Count 2: 1st degree murder: Guilty; Guilty on all 21 counts. (Update: Audio clip of reading of verdict here.)

After 11 hours of deliberations, the jury has reached a verdict in the Willie Clark murder trial. He's accused of killing Denver Bronco Darrent Williams. It will be read in 15 minutes.

I haven't been able to blog about the trial because it's too closely related to a certain federal drug case I'm involved in, but I will cover the verdict. [More....]