Colorado killer who won $6 million jury verdict -- then lost it -- looks toward appeal

Lawyers for a convicted murderer who last year landed a $6 million jury verdict for a Colorado prison beating he allegedly took — then lost that record award before the case was re-tried in November — say they expect better luck on appeal.

The case of Jayson Oslund, 37, has been an up-and-down affair, mostly because the federal judge handling the matter, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen Tafoya, first negated the jury verdict that gave the inmate a record sum in damages, then found for the defense following a second three-day jury trial in which the eight-person panel never got a chance to deliberate.

The first jury in March awarded Oslund $5 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages. Tafoya said that outcome “shocks the conscience of this court,” and ordered a new trial, which took place Nov. 26 to 28. But rather than let a new jury deliberate the case after both sides presented nearly identical evidence as was heard in the first trial, Tafoya took the unusual step of granting a defense motion for an immediate dismissal.

“We respectfully disagree with the court’s order and recently filed our notice of appeal to the 10th Circuit,” attorney Zachary Warren told The Denver Post in an email. “We are hopeful that the appeals court will reinstate the initial $6 million verdict and honor the decision of those eight courageous jurors.”

Read more: https://www.denverpost.com/2019/01/14/jayson-oslund-record-verdict-appeal/

Later in the article, it notes that Oslund was having an epileptic seizure during the beating.