Colorado legislature votes to tax recreational marijuana

By Keith Coffman

DENVER (Reuters) - The Colorado legislature passed and sent to the governor on Wednesday a bill to establish what would be the first tax ever collected on commercial sales of marijuana purchased for recreational use in the United States.

The measure, which would impose a 15 percent excise tax plus a 10 percent statewide sales tax on retail pot purchases, was approved as package of measures to implement Colorado's landmark marijuana legalization law enacted by voters last fall.

Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper was expected to sign the legislation.

But the tax, seen as necessary to support the larger regulatory framework of the system, would then be subject to a ballot referendum under a Colorado law requiring all new taxes to be approved directly by voters.

In November, voters passed a constitutional amendment making Colorado one of just two states - the other was Washington - legalizing possession, cultivation and use of marijuana by adults for recreational purposes for the first time.

In Colorado, 53 percent of the voters supported legalization of pot, versus 47 percent who opposed it.

The outcomes in Colorado and Washington, already among nearly 20 states with laws on the books legalizing marijuana for medical use, put both states in further conflict with the federal government, which classifies cannabis as an illegal narcotic.

Under Colorado's new marijuana law, personnel possession of up to an ounce (28.5 grams) of marijuana is legal for anyone at least 21 years of age. Personal cultivation of cannabis is limited to six plants per person.

The statute also called for cannabis to be legally sold and taxed at private, state-licensed stores modeled after a regime many states have in place for alcohol sales.

Implementing legislation passed on Wednesday would give private dispensaries already in operation for distribution of medical marijuana first crack at the new retail sales licenses.

Washington state's voter-approved marijuana measure came with a built-in taxing scheme that will not be put into effect until the larger regulatory system is devised by that state's Liquor Control Board.

Approval of the tax and regulatory package in Colorado by the state House of Representatives and state Senate, both controlled by Democrats, came on the final day of the legislative session in Denver.

(Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Eric Walsh)

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Attorneys: Suspect in Colorado theater shootings will plead not guilty by reason of insanity

By Alasdair Fotheringham SERRA SAN BRUNO, Italy, May 7 (Reuters) - Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins has yet to show the form of last season that would make him top favourite for the Giro d'Italia, according to Juan Jose Cobo, the last non-Team Sky rider to beat the Briton on a Grand Tour. "He's not necessarily the strongest rider," Spaniard Cobo told Reuters before Tuesday's fourth stage where Wiggins lost 17 seconds as the peloton split in the final kilometres. "Personally I think (Italian) Vincenzo Nibali is equally likely to win. ...

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Police: No crime in Colorado student mouth taping

AURORA, Colo. (AP) — Police say no crime occurred when a second-grade Colorado teacher taped her students' mouth shut when they wouldn't be quiet.

Police interviewed the teacher at Fulton Academy in the suburb of Aurora after a student told her mother who then reported Thursday's incident to police. The student confirmed to police the teacher's statement to an officer that it was a joke, the children were laughing, and had asked that their mouths be taped.

In her statement to police, the teacher said she didn't "think anything bad" about placing tape a small, vertical strip of transparent tape on all 28 students' mouths.

"The incident did not meet the elements of any municipal violation or state statute," Aurora police said in a statement.

The unidentified teacher is on paid administrative leave while the Aurora Public Schools district investigates.

"My daughter's been in the house crying, begging me not to send her back to school. (She) said that she'll do good in home school and she promises. She doesn't want to go back to a public school," Tenisha Bynes told KUSA-TV (http://tinyurl.com/ctqu2za ).

The girl said the punishment was painful.

"When she put it on, it was like, OK, and then, like, it started to hurt my mouth right here. It's also hard for me to breathe with the tape, too," she said. The girl's name is being withheld because of her age.

The teacher did not return a phone call to the station seeking comment. The teacher's name was redacted in a police report because no charges have been recommended.

The school is under the jurisdiction of Aurora Public Schools with limited responsibility for making its own decisions.

The school district issued a statement saying it's taking the matter seriously and will conduct its own investigation.

"Due to privacy laws, we are unable to discuss these allegations specifically. When we receive allegations of this nature, we immediately contact the police, begin our own investigation and possibly place the staff member on administrative leave during the investigation. We do not condone any inappropriate adult conduct toward students, and we cooperate fully with the police," said spokeswoman Paula Hans in an email statement.

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Information from: KUSA-TV, http://www.9news.com

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Information from: KUSA-TV, http://www.9news.com

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Colorado prosecutors seek death penalty for accused cinema gunman

By Keith Coffman

DENVER (Reuters) - Accused theater gunman James Holmes returns to a Colorado court on Monday, where prosecutors will reveal if they intend to seek the death penalty against the former graduate student for the "Dark Knight" shooting rampage that killed 12 moviegoers.

It is widely expected that Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler will attempt to win a death sentence against the 25-year-old California native.

Brauchler already has announced he has a death penalty lawyer on the prosecution team and he rejected a defense offer to let Holmes plead guilty and serve a life sentence if capital punishment is taken off the table.

Holmes is accused of opening fire inside a suburban Denver theater during a screening of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" last July, in one of the deadliest outbursts of gun violence in the United States in recent years.

Holmes is charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder for the shooting massacre that also wounded 58 moviegoers. Another dozen people suffered non-gunshot injuries as they fled the Aurora, Colorado, cinema.

Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester entered a not guilty plea for Holmes last month, but said he would consider allowing that to be changed to not guilty by reason of insanity.

Last week, public defenders said in a court filing that Holmes was willing to plead guilty and serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole if prosecutors would not try to execute their client.

While Holmes' attorneys said they are prepared to mount an insanity defense, they wrote in the filing that "Mr. Holmes is currently willing to resolve the case to bring the proceedings to a speedy and definite conclusion for all involved."

Brauchler fired back in a written response, calling the move by the defense improper at this stage of the case and "that it was filed for the intended purpose of generating the predictable pretrial publicity."

"The only conclusion that an objective reader would reach ... is that the defendant knows that he is guilty, the defense attorneys know he is guilty and that both of them know that he was not criminally insane," Brauchler wrote.

In court pleadings, public defenders Daniel King and Tamara Brady have said Holmes has been hospitalized twice since his arrest, once for "potential self-inflicted injuries."

At one point, jailers determined Holmes was a danger to himself and in "immediate need of a psychiatric evaluation." He was transported by ambulance to a Denver psychiatric ward "where he was held for several days, frequently in restraints," his lawyers wrote.

Also at issue at Monday's hearing is whether a Fox News reporter will be compelled to testify about confidential sources she used in a story that said a notebook Holmes sent to a psychiatrist detailed his plans to commit mass murder.

Sylvester agreed to hear arguments from lawyers for New York-based reporter Jana Winter, whose story violated a gag order he had imposed in the case.

(Reporting by Keith Coffman; Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Eric Beech)

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Lawyers for accused Colorado theater gunman offer guilty plea

By Keith Coffman Chris Frantz

DENVER (Reuters) - Defense attorneys for the former graduate student accused of killing 12 people at a Denver area movie theater last July have offered to have him plead guilty in exchange for a life prison term, according to court documents filed on Wednesday.

Public defenders for James Holmes, 25, said in the Arapahoe County District Court filing that prosecutors have so far not accepted the offer, which would spare their client the death penalty in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.

Holmes faces multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder stemming from the July 20 massacre at a showing of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Colorado that also wounded 58 people.

Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler has said that he would formally inform the court during a hearing scheduled for Monday whether his office would seek the death penalty against Holmes.

Brauchler has not made his decision public, but in February announced that he had added a death penalty lawyer to the prosecution team.

All three of Colorado's death row inmates were convicted and sentenced in Arapahoe County. At a state legislative hearing earlier in March, Brauchler testified in favor of keeping the death penalty on the books in Colorado.

A spokeswoman for the Arapahoe County District Attorney's Office could not be reached for comment on Wednesday afternoon.

"Prior to arraignment, Mr. Holmes made an offer to the prosecution to resolve the case by pleading guilty and spending the rest of his life in prison without the opportunity for parole," lawyers for Holmes say in the papers.

Holmes was arraigned on March 12. At that hearing, Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester entered a not guilty plea on his behalf after defense attorneys said they were not prepared to enter a plea.

INSANITY DEFENSE

In Wednesday's pleading, defense lawyers said that if prosecutors agree to take the death penalty off the table for Holmes the case could be resolved at Monday's hearing.

Attorneys for the former University of Colorado neuroscience graduate student, who surrendered to officers outside the theater minutes after the shooting rampage, had been expected to mount an insanity defense on his behalf at trial.

"As previously stated in court, counsel for Mr. Holmes are still exploring a mental health defense, and counsel will vigorously present and argue any and all appropriate defenses at a trial or sentencing proceeding as necessary," defense lawyers said in the court papers.

"Nevertheless, Mr. Holmes is currently willing to resolve the case to bring the proceedings to a speedy and definite conclusion for all involved," the defense said.

Lawyers for Holmes have said in court filings that their client has been hospitalized twice since his arrest, once after hitting his head against a cell wall.

Holmes was also held in restraints for several days at a psychiatric hospital in November after jail officials determined he was a threat to himself, according to his defense team.

In a separate written ruling on Wednesday, Sylvester denied a request by Fox News journalist Jana Winter to postpone her testimony, scheduled for Monday, about confidential sources she cited in a story about the shooting rampage.

Sylvester ordered Winter to take the witness stand as he tries to determine who leaked information to the New York-based journalist despite a gag order he issued in the case.

Winter's attorneys sought a delay while she filed an appeal of Sylvester's ruling on the grounds that she was protected against revealing her sources by New York's shield law for journalists.

(Reporting by Keith Coffman and Chris Frantz; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst, Tim Dobbyn and Cynthia Osterman)

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Colorado lawmakers approve sweeping gun-control measures

By Keith Coffman

DENVER (Reuters) - Both chambers of the majority Democratic Colorado legislature approved a package of four gun-control measures on Wednesday, capping months of debate in a state that has experienced two of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.

The most controversial of the bills that are now headed to the desk of Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper is a ban on ammunition magazines with more than 15 rounds, which the governor said he will sign into law.

The passage of the bills could push Colorado to the forefront of a national gun control debate reignited by several mass shootings last year, including the December massacre of 20 children and six adults at a school in Newtown, Connecticut.

The sponsor of the Colorado magazine-limit bills, state House Representative Rhonda Fields, told fellow lawmakers in a floor debate on Wednesday the proposal was about "saving lives."

"These are weapons that should be used in a theater of war and not in our local theaters," said Fields, a Democrat whose district includes the suburban Denver movie theater where a gunman killed 12 people in a shooting rampage last July.

Colorado was also the site of the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School, where two teenagers shot dead a teacher and 12 other students before committing suicide.

Other bills included in the package of gun-control laws approved by Colorado lawmakers included a measure to make firearm buyers pay for their own background checks and a ban on online certification for concealed-carry permits, both of which Hickenlooper has said he supports.

Another measure would bar gun purchases by people convicted of domestic violence crimes. Hickenlooper had previously said he was undecided about that until he could see the final version.

One remaining gun-control measure to require background checks for all firearms transfers was sent to a conference committee on Wednesday, so that both chambers could hash out differences between the Senate and House versions.

The proposals that won final approval on Wednesday had received little Republican support.

Republican House minority leader Mark Waller issued a statement after the bills' passage, calling Democrats "out of touch" with their constituents.

"More than 200,000 Coloradans are out of work but Democrats are more concerned with passing legislation that will send hundreds of jobs out of our state without any increase in public safety to show for it," Waller said in a statement.

Waller was referring to Magpul, a Colorado-based manufacturer of ammunition magazines that has vowed to leave the state and take away its hundreds of jobs if the magazine-limits bill becomes law.

The Colorado legislature's action follows the passage in New York state in January of a sweeping gun-control law that bans assault weapons and magazines that hold more than seven rounds of ammunition, requires gun owners to register most guns with the states and requires universal background checks.

President Barack Obama has put forward a number of federal gun-control proposals in the wake of the Newtown killings.

On Tuesday, a divided U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee advanced to the full Senate a measure endorsed by Obama that would require criminal background checks for all gun buyers.

(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Eric Walsh)

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Ex-CIA contractor pleads guilty in Colorado assault case

DENVER (Reuters) - A former CIA contractor who triggered an international incident in 2011 when he killed two men in Pakistan pleaded guilty on Friday to assaulting a Colorado man in a dispute over a parking spot, prosecutors said.

Raymond Allen Davis entered the plea in Douglas County District Court to misdemeanor third-degree assault and received a two-year probationary sentence, said Lisa Pinto, spokeswoman for the district attorney's office.

Pinto said Davis was also ordered to take anger management classes and write a letter of apology to the victim, Jeff Maes.

Davis, 38, was originally charged with second-degree felony assault in the altercation with Maes in the Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch in October 2011.

Officers were sent to a bagel store parking lot on reports of a fight between the two men, according to Douglas County Sheriff's spokesman Ron Hanavan.

Police said Davis started the fight and knocked Maes to the ground. He was arrested at the scene.

Maes has filed a civil lawsuit against Davis, saying he suffered two fractured vertebrae in the fight, along with emotional distress.

A U.S. Army veteran and former special forces soldier, Davis made international headlines when he shot and killed two men whom he said were trying to rob him in the eastern Pakistan city of Lahore in January 2011.

Davis, who was working in Pakistan at the time under a CIA contract with Xe Services, the controversial private security firm formerly known as Blackwater, said he acted in self-defense.

He was acquitted of murder and allowed to leave Pakistan after a $2.3 million payment was made to the men's families.

Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at the time that the U.S. government did not pay the "blood money" but would not reveal who did.

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Xavier Briand)

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