Author: Blair Miller

Lawyer: ‘New evidence’ shows Aurora botched 2014 marijuana license lottery

AURORA, Colo. – A Denver-area marijuana company says it has new evidence the city of Aurora and the city’s marijuana enforcement division didn’t give it fair treatment when it tried to get one of the city’s marijuana licenses in August 2014.

The suit by Visaj Unity, LLC, which operates as Metro Cannabis, was first filed in late 2014 after the company was denied one of the Aurora Ward 2 licenses to operate a cannabis shop. Metro Cannabis now operates at least three other dispensaries in the Denver area, which operate under the name Silver Stem Fine Cannabis.

At the time, Aurora was using a lottery process to determine which bids would get the four shops in the ward.

The lawsuit has maintained that Metro Cannabis had actually tied with another applicant, Mountain States Group I LLC (MSG), but that the city’s code and the Aurora Marijuana Enforcement Division (AMED) wouldn’t allow for a tiebreaker despite the tie.

And Metro Cannabis maintains in a new filing that it has proof that AMED created the tie in the first place by rounding up the other company’s score, which accounted for various proposals made by each company as to how they would operate their shop should they be granted a license.

That new evidence, attorney Bob Hoban claims, shows that one of three reviewers who was tasked with deciding businesses’ scores in the lottery was actually an Aurora employee and thus not an “independent reviewer.” Hoban claims that the Aurora employee’s involvement in the process means Metro Cannabis did not receive due process in its application being evaluated.

Hoban also says that the city of Aurora has admitted it made a mistake in rounding up MSG’s score, and that it has “steadfastly refused to correct its error.”

“It is not plausible to believe that each of these…data entry errors randomly happened to be outcome-determinative in the absence of any intentional manipulation of scores by the AMED,” Hoban wrote in his latest court filing.

He also claims that AMED showed bias toward the owners of Metro Cannabis, whom were investigated in 2009 by Greenwood Village police for possible discrepancies involving a medical caregiver operation, despite no charges ever being filed.

“It appears that the AMED decided that Visaj should not be granted a license even though the AMED’s rules did not allow the AMED to take away points or otherwise deny an application based on criminal charges that were dropped by the prosecuting agency,” the filing says.

It also says that instead of hiring an independent attorney to act as a hearing officer in license appeals, the city instead hired Jason Batchelor, who oversees AMED, to be the hearing officer in Metro Cannabis’s case.

“Aurora’s reticence to provide pertinent information before, during and after the Oct. 13, 2014 administrative hearing demonstrates a calculated effort to deny Visaj a meaningful opportunity to challenge denial of the license,” Hoban wrote.

And still, Hoban argues, the city is breaking its own rules that put a two-year limit on how long a license winner can sit on a license before it has to start building its new facility. The filing says 3LP, one of the companies that received a license at the time, still has not broken ground on the facility it proposed back then.

The filing claims that Aurora city code has no remedies to allay the problem, and claims violations of the Colorado Constitution in that the company was depraved of its due process.

“The city of Aurora admits it made a mistake, but because the Aurora code doesn’t say what to do in cases of such mistakes, they don’t have to fix it,” co-owner Stan Zislis said.

A jury trial in the case is set for next Monday, April 24 in Adams County District Court. A spokesperson for the city of Aurora says the city does not comment on pending litigation.


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Denver council to take up, hear public opinion on extending Denver pot store hours on Monday

DENVER – The first public hearing and city council discussion on a bill that would allow Denver’s marijuana shops to stay open until 10 p.m. are set to get underway at Monday evening’s council meeting.

The city council’s special marijuana issue committee tentatively approved the measure in early April that would add three hours to the time Denver medical and recreational marijuana shops are allowed to stay open.

Currently, Denver requires stores within its city limits to close at 7 p.m. Other nearby municipalities, like Glendale and Edgewood, let pot shops stay open until midnight. Shops in Aurora, Boulder and Commerce City are open until 10 p.m.

The original bill had proposed a midnight closing time, but that was amended by the marijuana committee after weeks of discussion with marijuana business owners, law enforcement and marijuana proponents.

The bill passed committee by 12-1 and 11-2 votes.

When the state legalized recreational marijuana in 2014, it said shops could be open from 8 a.m. until midnight each day, but it also allowed municipalities to determine the hours the shops would stay open.

And in 2015, the state allowed medical shops to stay open for the same hours as recreational shops.

Discussions to keep Denver’s shops open longer have been ongoing for years, but took a step forward in January, when the proposal first was discussed.

Proponents of extending shop hours have argued doing so would make the city more competitive with its neighbors, despite the city having raked in about half of last year’s sales statewide.

A Denver Post questionnaire done ahead of the last city council election found many of the current councilors said they would at least consider extending marijuana shop hours.

Monday’s council meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. The bill is likely to get another hearing before a final vote.

If you’d like to speak at the public hearing, sign up with the Council Secretary before 5 p.m. in Room 451 of the City and County building, or sign up during the council’s recess.


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Investigation continues this week into Coal Creek Canyon triple murder

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. – The investigation into the murders of three people at a home in Coal Creek Canyon over the weekend is ongoing Monday as authorities try and figure out why the three people were killed.

The three people – 54-year-old Wallace White and 56-year-old Kelly Sloat-White, both of Golden, and 39-year-old Emory Fraker, of Broomfield – all were found dead Saturday morning in a home in the 800 block of Divide View Drive.

The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office says all three bodies showed signs of having traumatic injuries and has ruled out murder-suicide in the case. The sheriff’s office said Saturday that it believes the three were specifically targeted and that there isn’t believed to be a threat to the public.

“Additional information about why investigators believe the residence was specifically targeted and other specific investigative information cannot be provided at this time,” the sheriff’s office said.

The crime scene was discovered early Saturday when a friend of the White family called deputies to perform a welfare check, and saw two bodies inside the home.

But deputies said there was evidence of drug activity near the bodies, so hazmat teams were called in and searched the home for much of Saturday, eventually finding no chemicals or hazardous materials inside.

But when investigators finally searched the home, they found the third body.

Neighbors of the home, which sits about 100 feet back from the road in a wooded area, said the Whites kept mostly to themselves and had large, friendly dogs that roamed the neighborhood.

Boulder County authorities said late Sunday that its deputies would continue the investigation this week, that it would likely be “lengthy” and that “not much, if any” information would be released “to maintain [the investigation’s] integrity.”

The sheriff’s office is asking anyone who has information on the case to call its tip line at 303-441-3674 or by emailing the office here.

People can also submit anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers by calling 800-222-TIPS.


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Grand Junction boy, 12, charged after threat to do ‘recreation…of Columbine’

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – A 12-year-old Orchard Mesa Middle School student faces felony charges after he allegedly made plans to “do a re-creation of the Columbine shooting,” police say.

The boy apparently told another student of his plan to carry out a shooting at the school in coming days, who told their parent. The parent passed the alleged threat on to Grand Junction police Thursday evening.

Police went to the boy’s home, where they interviewed him and took him into custody.

The boy, who has not been named, faces felony menacing charges and a class 1 misdemeanor charge of interfering with staff, faculty, or students of an education institution.

The Grand Junction Police Department says the investigation into the alleged threat is “very active” and ongoing, and said its officers plan to interview more people about the alleged threat in coming days.

The school was in session as normal Friday, but police said there were additional officers at the school “out of an abundance of caution.”

The police department commended the student who reported the threat to his parent.

“We’re grateful for this student’s courage and willingness to speak up and be an advocate for the safety of students and staff,” the department said. “We encourage all parents and guardians to work towards an open, honest dialog with their kids, so students feel safe disclosing information that needs the intervention of an adult.”


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Jewish teen arrested in Israel for JCC threats linked to threats at Boulder Jewish center

BOULDER, Colo. – A Jewish teenager arrested last month in Israel who is accused of making bomb threats to more than 100 Jewish community centers across the country has also been linked to the two threats made at Boulder’s Jewish center in recent months, police said Friday.

Boulder Police spokeswoman Laurie Ogden confirmed that the 18-year-old, who has still not been publicly identified, is believed to have made the threats to Boulder’s Jewish Community Centers on both Jan. 31 and March 8. But she told the Boulder Daily Camera “there is nothing concrete” with the investigation so far. Continue reading

Undocumented Aurora mother of 4 detained for deportation by ICE after years of compliance: lawyer

DENVER – An undocumented woman from Aurora with a single conviction for driving without a license is set to be deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after she was detained Wednesday in Centennial, according to her lawyer.

Maria de Jesus Jimenez Sanchez is a mother of four, including a developmentally-disabled daughter, and has lived in Aurora since 1999, according to her lawyer, Lakewood attorney Jennifer Kain-Rios.

Though Jimenez Sanchez received a deportation order in 2001, according to Kain-Rios, she was able to stay in the country.

In 2012, Jimenez Sanchez was pulled over and cited for driving without a license, after which she spent six months in detention by immigration officials, according to her attorney. Colorado now allows undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.

But Jimenez Sanchez was granted a stay of removal, which has been renewed for the past four years because of her’s daughters condition, until she learned that the most recent request for a stay had been denied last month. She was picked up in Centennial Wednesday when she showed up for her routine immigration check-in despite knowing her stay had been denied, her lawyer says.

“Maria de Jesus complied with her check in appointment yesterday because she hoped that ICE would restrain itself, considering her good-faith efforts to comply with her Order of Supervision,” Kain-Rios said. “Maria de Jesus asked for the assistance of Rep. Coffman and Sen. Bennet’s offices to obtain a meaningful explanation, but only received curt and opaque responses from ICE.”

Kain-Rios says when they spoke with Coffman, he said that enforcement policies had changed under the new administration.

Jimenez Sanchez went to the meeting because she and her attorney had asked for an appeal of her stay’s rejection and they thought they would get an explanation for its denial, Kain-Rios told Denver7.

Kain-Rios says Jimenez Sanchez has four children: the 15-year-old developmentally-disabled daughter, and three other children aged 7, 8 and 19.

“[Jimenez Sanchez] has a critical meeting regarding her daughter’s education plan next week she needs to attend,” Kain-Rios said. “She wants to stay so she can continue to take care of her children.”

When reached for comment Thursday, an ICE spokesman told Denver7 he did not have information on the case readily available.

The children of another Denver-area undocumented woman, Jeanette Vizguerra, sent off for Washington Wednesday to protest ICE immigration enforcement actions, which the Department of Homeland Security has vowed to enforce more-strictly under the new administration.

Vizguerra and another Denver-area woman have sought sanctuary at local churches, as both are scheduled to be deported. Vizguerra’s situation is similar to Jimenez Sanchez’s as both saw their stays of deportation denied after several years of seamless compliance.

Nearly all of Colorado’s law enforcement agencies say they are in compliance with federal immigration rules.


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Investigators search Pueblo home, yard for new clues in missing pregnant Denver woman’s case

PUEBLO, Colo. – A missing persons case involving a pregnant Denver woman who went missing four years ago in Pueblo thawed Thursday, as local and state investigators searched a Pueblo home for clues relating to her disappearance.

Detectives with the Pueblo Police Department and investigators with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant at a home in the 5100 block of Manor Ridge Drive at 8 a.m. Thursday to try and find anything new in the case involving Kelsie Schelling’s disappearance.

The home used to be occupied by Donthe Lucas, who was Schelling’s boyfriend and the father of her unborn child and has long been considered a suspect in the case. But he has never been convicted of any charges relating to Schelling’s disappearance.

Around a dozen detectives and investigators combed through the backyard of the home, placing flags and digging up portions of the yard, “looking for evidence that may help in the investigation, which is ongoing,” police said.

Schelling was 21 years old and eight weeks pregnant when she vanished on Feb. 4, 2013. She had her first doctor’s visit and had seen a sonogram of her baby earlier that day.

After the trip to the doctor and a shift at work, the Denver woman drove two hours south to Pueblo to visit Lucas, and has never been seen since.

Lucas was found to have parked her car at an area Walmart the day after she disappeared, and an unidentified man picked it up and eventually dropped it off again at the St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center. Police recovered the vehicle Feb. 7.

Schelling was never seen in surveillance video at either location.

Investigators discovered through text messages that Schelling and Lucas had talked to one another once she had reached Pueblo, but the messages stopped shortly after she got there.

Lucas was at one point arrested on felony identity theft and misdemeanor theft charges for allegedly using Schelling’s debit card to withdraw $400 at a bank on Feb. 5 of that year.

He was named as a primary person of interest in Schelling’s disappearance, but the charges relating to his alleged use of her credit card were eventually dropped.

Schelling’s mother and other family members have long believed Lucas is somehow involved in her disappearance, and have continued to plead with CBI for answers.

“I think Kelsie’s case is very solvable. I think it should’ve been solved a long time before now, and we’re not giving up…there will be a resolution to this,” Schelling’s mother, Laura Saxton, told Denver7 when we covered Schelling’s case for Project Unsolved in February.

CBI was brought in by Pueblo police fairly recently to assist in the case.

CBI Director Michael Rankin told Denver7 in February that when his team is brought in, they re-examine and scrutinize the evidence and details collected in the case so far.

“I think that the starting point [is] let’s take a look at, first of all, what happened? What do we know? What’s been done to further that investigation, and then, where can the CBI plug in to further advance the investigation and hopefully the prosecution as well,” Rankin said.

Schelling’s family has long offered a reward for information leading investigators to their daughter or to an arrest and conviction of someone in her disappearance – upping the reward to $100,000 in February and organizing a Colorado Missing Persons Day event at the state Capitol on Feb. 3

Pueblo police say the investigation into the case remains ongoing and that they are looking for tips related to the case. To submit anonymous tips in the case, contact Pueblo Crime Stoppers at 542-STOP or go to their website.

You can also contact the Colorado Bureau of Investigation at 303-239-4300. Saxton has also created a website dedicated to helping find her daughter.

Coffman extends olive branch to progressives, but stands strong on health care decision in town hall

AURORA, Colo. – Rep. Mike Coffman made headlines Wednesday when he said that White House press secretary Sean Spicer “needs to go,” but the five-term Congressman from Colorado’s first in-person town hall of the year saw much more of a focus from those in attendance on the ongoing debate over the U.S. health care system.

Slated to speak with constituents at the CU Anschutz campus for an hour, Coffman instead listened to tough questions and demands from constituents for an additional 45 minutes, sometimes trying to find an olive branch and other times rebuffing those in attendance.

The roughly 800-person capacity room was not entirely filled despite tickets to the event selling out ahead of time. And the lengthy rules list for the event, which banned yelling, among other things, was never quite enforced. Though progressive groups protested Coffman both before and after the event, it’s unclear if any of the people who showed up solely to protest asked questions inside.

Many of the three-dozen or so people who asked questions pressed Coffman on his support for the American Health Care Act, the Paul Ryan-backed plan to repeal and replace Obamacare that was pulled before it could face a perhaps-embarrassing failed vote in the full House.

“Are you going to side with Trump or…stand with your constituents?” asked one woman.

“What will it take you to vote with your constituents?” another pressed.

“I voted for you because I thought you’d be a leader,” one constituent said, according to Politico’s coverage of the event. “I don’t see you leading.”

Still others asked about the pre-existing conditions, and others pressed Coffman on Medicaid, which hundreds of thousands of Coloradans utilize for health care coverage and the AHCA would have cut significantly over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Coffman said he ran on the idea that he would repeal and replace Obamacare, which is why he carried through supporting the Republican proposal, though he said he would “protect those with pre-existing conditions.”

Coffman has already been targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as a seat Democrats hope they can flip in 2018.

His district, Colorado’s 6th, went to Hillary Clinton by 9 percentage points in 2016, and also went to Sen. Michael Bennet by a wide margin in 2014.

He already faces a challenge from Democrat Jason Crow, a Denver attorney who is a former paratrooper and Ranger in the U.S. Army who declared his candidacy Monday. A 25-year-old newcomer, Gabriel McArthur, is also running on the Democratic side.

Still, both face uphill battles to de-seat Coffman, who beat Morgan Carroll in 2016 by 31,000 votes – a few thousand fewer than he won by when he defeated Andrew Romanoff in 2014.

The last close election Coffman faced was in 2012, when he beat out Democrat Joe Mikloski by just 7,000 votes. That race also had fairly strong turnouts for Libertarian and independent candidates.

The district was the only in the state that saw a margin of victory between the candidates less than 10 percent in 2016.

But Coffman on Wednesday tried to find ways to meet Democrats in the audience and Republicans who are not pleased with Trump somewhere in the middle – something he did during the 2016 election but which has been mostly forgotten after his support for the AHCA.

He said he was “heading in [the] direction” of supporting having an independent counsel investigate possible ties between Russia and Trump associates.

He also said he supported a proposed law forcing the president, vice president and members of Congress to release their tax returns.

Immigration also came up, and Coffman said he would like to see undocumented immigrants who “have broken our immigration laws but haven’t broken our other laws” to “come out of the shadows.”

But the most noteworthy statement of the night for most opposed to Trump came at the end of the session, when Coffman was asked about Spicer’s comments, which he apologized for afterward, in which he said that Hitler didn’t use chemical weapons during World War II while comparing that to the gassing of civilians in Syria.

“He needs to go,” Coffman said of Spicer after being pressed on the issue.

But the seasoned Republican didn’t give in entirely to the crowd, saying that those “on the extreme left” would “never be satisfied,” while saying he would continue to vote as he felt necessary.

“When I disagree with the president, I will speak out against the president,” Coffman said. “But I’m not going to do it every other day.”

Coffman follows up town hall with interview Thursday

On the topic of healthcare, Coffman told Denver7 reporter Marc Stewart in an interview Thursday that he hopes the Republicans will likely write another healthcare bill.

“Do you think this is something we would see by the end of the year?” asked Stewart.

“I hope so,” Coffman said. “I mean, in my view, the end of the year is too late. I think we need to do it as soon as possible.”

He said he hopes that happens “in the next couple months.”

On immigration, Coffman sides with the president about securing the border, but feels policies also need to be realistic, especially when it comes to DREAMers.

“I think there ought to be some kind of DREAM Act for the young people that would allow them — through military service, through education, through work history — to have a path to citizenship.”

As far as undocumented immigrants living here now, Coffman provided no promises.

“Should you have that concern you could picked up by an ICE agent for no other reason than your citizenship status?” asked Sewart.

“I’m not going to speak to that,” Coffman said. “I think the administration is looking at different directions. I mean, they’re in violation of the law, and that’s why we have to reform the law.”


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Some empty seats as Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman’s talks to constituents in Aurora town hall

DENVER – U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman held a town hall in Aurora Wednesday evening, but it’s the strict list of requirements for admission to the event, not the issues at hand, that seem to be drawing the most attention.

The town hall is set to take place from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Education Building 2 South on the CU Anschutz Campus, located at East 17th Place in Aurora.

WATCH | Denver7 will stream the town hall starting at 6 p.m. in the live player below. If having trouble viewing, tap here.

“I look forward to a robust and informative discussion about all of the critical issues facing our community, state, and nation,” a news release from Coffman announcing the event says, adding that the Republican Congressman will also discuss current and upcoming legislation.

But some foes of Coffman’s say the restrictions to the event will foster anything but a robust discussion, and several progressive and Democratic groups plan to protest the event as such.

Coffman’s announcement for the town hall does carry with it an extensive list of requirements for people wanting to attend.

First, they had to sign up for tickets, which have already sold out. But not even all the people who were able to get tickets will be able to sit in the town hall itself; some will have to stand in an overflow room. People who were able to get tickets had to reserve their seats.

And if you’re not from Colorado’s 6th Congressional District, it’s unlikely you got one of the seats at the town hall even if you have a ticket.

“Due to the overwhelming response to our town hall meeting from across our district and the limited capacity of the venue, we will prioritize access to the auditorium to residents of the 6th District of Colorado,” the press release from Coffman says.

Even then, Coffman’s staff and “university representatives” still reserve the right not to let you in.

And if you are lucky enough to get into the town hall itself, there’s only a chance you’ll get to ask a question. Attendees will receive raffle tickets that will be drawn to determine who asks questions.

But should you manage to get a seat and a raffle ticket, be sure you adhere to the rest of the rules Coffman’s team has put in place for the event:

  • Attendees must have a matching photo ID with a valid address that matches their ticket.
  • No signs larger than 8.5 x 11 inches are allowed.
  • No standing in aisles or blocking doors
  • No yelling, shouting or disruptive behavior “So that everyone can participate in a constructive conversation.”
  • No backpacks, food, drink or weapons – except for purses “of reasonable size.”

A group involving Indivisible Colorado District 6, Arapahoe County Democratic Party, Colorado Democratic Party, Mi Familia Vota, ProgressNow Colorado and Swing Left plans to organize protests outside of the town hall both before and afterward.

Heated town hall debates have been a staple of the past several months, especially as Republicans tried to convince constituents that the repeal and replacement of Obamacare was necessary – efforts that have so far failed in Congress.

Coffman made national news in January when he left early from a “community event” that his team said were actually one-on-one meetings, angering a large group of constituents present at Aurora’s Central Library for the event.


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Months after 2016 election, race for Colorado’s congressional districts in 2018 already heating up

DENVER – It’s been just over five months since the 2016 General Election, but two 2018 congressional races in Colorado are already heating up.

State Sen. Andy Kerr, a Democrat from Jefferson County, announced his bid for Colorado’s 7th Congressional District seat in an event a Dunstan Middle School in Lakewood – a school he attended years ago. Continue reading