Jury — Hickenlooper — is still out on court pick
Gov. John Hickenlooper is about to make his fifth appointment to the seven-member Colorado Supreme Court, and he has three candidates — all with similar backgrounds but each with a different area of expertise.
The person whom the term-limited Democrat decides on will have big shoes to fill: the retiring Chief Justice Nancy E. Rice. Hickenlooper’s selection will also solidify his outsized influence on the panel as he prepares to leave office.
The three candidates are all jurists. One oversaw the trial of the Aurora theater gunman, and another presided over the high-profile case of a woman who cut the fetus out of a Boulder County mother-to-be’s womb. All three, put forth by a judicial nominating commission for Hickenlooper’s consideration, are graduates of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.
“The three candidates are similar in a lot of ways,” said Christopher Jackson, an appellate lawyer at the Denver firm of Sherman & Howard and a close follower of the Colorado Supreme Court. “All three of them have experience as state trial court judges. All three of them reside in the Denver metro area.”
The governor’s pick will join the Colorado Supreme Court as it continues to face questions about the state’s growth, oil and gas industry and complicated tax law known as the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. The person selected, the high court’s second new justice in a year, will come amid a wave of change for the panel.
“I think it’s definitely a big shift because you’ve got not just a new justice on the court, but there is also a new chief justice,” Jackson said. “It’s really hard to predict how that impacts the way the court functions as a whole. It will be interesting to see how they act together.”
The Denver Post reviewed the application packets of the three finalists — Carlos A. Samour Jr., Maria Berkenkotter and Karen Brody — to get a better idea of their prior experience and expertise. The appointee will serve a two-year term prior to going before voters for retention and an additional 10 years on the bench. (All three declined interview requests.)
“The first question I’ve asked of every single one we’ve interviewed is: ‘Why in the heck do you want this job? What makes you think you particularly would be better suited for it,’ ” Hickenlooper said, adding that the nominees’ views on small business and civil rights are among the most important factors for him.
Here is a look at the candidates, one of whom will be appointed by month’s end:
Maria Berkenkotter
Maria Berkenkotter works as an arbiter at the Denver-based Judicial Arbiter Group, where she helps clients in cases involving business, personal injury, intellectual property and domestic relations.
However, Berkenkotter is not far removed from the bench. In October, she retired from her job as chief judge in the 20th Judicial District, which encapsulates Boulder County.
In her role as a jurist, the Boulder woman oversaw a range of high-profile cases, including the 2016 trial of Dynel Lane who was convicted of cutting a fetus from the womb of a mother-to-be. The grisly attack drew worldwide attention, and Berkenkotter ultimately sentenced Lane to 100 years in prison for the crime.
“This was an emotionally challenging case that presented a number of difficult issues, including how to ensure the defendant’s right to a fair trial,” she wrote in her application for the Colorado Supreme Court seat.
Berkenkotter cited a who’s who of high-profile Colorado attorneys she is seeking recommendations from for the job, including former U.S. Attorney and state Attorney General John Suthers and former state Attorney General and U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar.
“I have extensive experience in handling all aspects of complex civil and commercial cases,” she wrote. “In addition to presiding over a great number of jury trials, court trials and motions hearing, I have issued hundreds of detailed written rulings in civil cases.”
Berkenkotter said in her application that she’s not involved in partisan politics (although records show she is registered as a Democrat). She became a district court judge in Boulder County in 2006 after being ap-
pointed by then-gov. Bill Owens, a Republican.
In 2016 Berkenkotter was involved in a high-profile disagreement with The Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder over her decision to temporarily bar it from publishing an arrest warrant for a 16-year-old boy accused of severely beating a 71-year-old woman. She eventually allowed the paper to write about the court document but not before The Daily Camera’s attorney called her initial decision unconstitutional.
The writing sample Berkenkotter submitted as part of her Supreme Court application included a ruling from that debate.
“Our Supreme Court has an outstanding tradition of fairness and integrity,” she wrote in her application. “It would be an honor to join in the work of our exceptional court and help continue that tradition.”
Karen Brody
Karen Brody, a judge in Denver’s 2nd Judicial District, is unlike the two other nominees, in that her expertise mainly lies in civil litigation.
In her role on the bench since 2014, the Denver resident oversees the district’s civil division, where she has presided over complex tax cases, real estate disputes, medical malpractice claims and contentious, complicated divorce proceedings. (She was appointed by Hickenlooper.)
Before becoming a judge, she was a member and owner of the Denver law firm Lowe, Fell & Skogg, handling civil matters such as contract disputes and claims related to fraud and misrepresentation in real estate. She has also taken on commercial transactions, construction disputes and Colorado Consumer Protection Act claims.
“I am not presently involved in partisan politics,” she wrote in her application. Voter records show her as formerly being registered as a Democrat before switching to unaffiliated.
Brody has practiced before the Colorado Supreme Court and said there would “be no greater honor for me” than serving on the panel.
“The Supreme Court requires dedicated members who respect how the law impacts individual lives and society as a whole, and who provide timely decisions that are objective, anchored in the law, and consistent,” she wrote. “Our citizens are entitled to justices who are the most dedicated and curious jurists, and who are committed to unlocking complex legal puzzles and resolving them in a timely and articulate opinion. If appointed, I will bring these qualities to the Court.”
Carlos A. Samour Jr.
18th Judicial District Chief Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. is likely the best-known of the three finalists.
Samour, a native of El Salvador who escaped civil war with his family as a young boy, was the jurist who oversaw the death penalty prosecution of Aurora theater gunman James Holmes. (Holmes was ultimately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.)
“The seven-month jury trial was exceedingly challenging and required me to overcome myriad legal, logistical and strategic hurdles,” Samour wrote in his application. “Many aspects of the case forced me to navigate uncharted waters, and there was no handbook or expert to consult for guidance.”
Respected by trial attorneys and known for his detailed writing and jurisprudence, Samour has also made high-profile decisions on other cases — such as ruling that Rene Lima-marin’s reincarceration several years after being accidentally freed from prison was unjust. He recently issued an opinion on the state’s law granting new sentencing hearings for some of the 48 people sentenced to life in prison without parole for crimes they committed as juveniles, calling the law constitutional. That question is now before the state’s high court.
Samour has been the chief judge in the 18th Judicial District since 2014, when he was appointed to the role by none other than Rice. He became a district court judge in 2007, after being appointed by Owens, and after serving as a prosecutor in Denver and working in private practice.
The Lone Tree resident says he has not been involved in partisan politics (records show he was registered as a Republican more than a decade ago but is now unaffiliated) and in his free time enjoys watching sports (“the Broncos are my favorite team”), traveling, reading and watching television.
His favorite TV shows are “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and his favorite movie is “My Cousin Vinny.”
“I love the law,” he wrote in his application. “Consistent with the values ingrained in me by my parents, I have developed an unwavering commitment to fairness and integrity, a deep sense of humility, a tireless work ethic, and an ability to use common sense and practical judgment. My diverse career, in turn, has helped me hone my analytical and writing skills, discover strategies to foster collegiality, and acquire essential qualities for effective leadership.”