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Rio Blanco County sheriff’s employees did not unconstitutionally ignore the risk of suicide to a woman who died inside the county jail in 2016, the federal appeals court based in Denver has ruled. Although there were allegations the employees failed to check on Catherine Rowell hourly, as the policy manual required, “the officers’ failure to follow jail procedures does not equate with a constitutional violation,” wrote Senior Judge Paul J. Kelly Jr. in an opinion for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. The ruling from the three-member appellate panel upheld a lower court judge’s finding that Rowell’s behavior in the jail did not put employees on sufficient notice of her suicidality, and therefore their failure to prevent it did not violate Rowell’s rights. ....
United States Department of Justice United States Attorney Jason R. Dunn announced last week that two unrelated individuals have pleaded guilty to methamphetamine trafficking on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation. Trisha Herrera, age 40, of Ignacio, Colo., and Rita Clark, age 31, of Arboles, Colo., entered their guilty pleas before Magistrate Judge James Candelaria. These investigations were developed in part as a result of the Southern Ute Police Department’s hiring of a full-time drug investigator. Southern Ute Police Chief Raymond Coriz joined in this announcement. According to court documents, in March, Herrera arranged drug deals on four separate occasions with other individuals on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation. Over the course of those four deals, Herrera exchanged 38 grams of narcotics for $1,130 in cash. ....