The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will hear a case questioning whether an El Paso County judge who was the victim of a roadside shooting should have recused herself from presiding over a road rage trial with similar circumstances.
At least three of the court's seven members must agree to grant an appeal.
The justices narrowly turned down two additional cases: a criminal appeal about the effect of a defendant's lengthy failure to appear on her right to a speedy trial, and a proposed class action lawsuit alleging McDonald's locations in southwest Colorado prevented employees from taking rest breaks.
In February 2017, Khalil Jamandre Sanders shot and injured the driver of another car in an apparent act of road rage. An El Paso County jury found him guilty of assault, menacing and the illegal discharge of a firearm. He is serving 32 years in prison.
During jury selection, then-District Court Judge Barbara L. Hughes took the parties aside and said she "would be remiss" if she did not tell them something: A few years prior, she was driving along Nevada Ave. and saw people fighting in the street. She honked at them and someone shot at her car.
"I heard pop, pop, pop, ping, and it hit the spoiler of my car. I had to duck," Hughes recalled. "There was a case report, I guess, a police report, but there was never any filing of any charges. There was never any person that was identified as the shooter that did the crime."
Sanders'...
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