katherine brien

Partner

Attorney Registration Number: 18721

Admitted to the Colorado Bar in 1989;  10^th Circuit Court of Appeals and U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado 2010

EDUCATION

Boston University School of Law, Juris Doctor, May 1989

Honors: Graduated cum laude—top 25% of class; Edward Hennessey Scholar—top 25% of third year class; Paul J. Liacos Scholar—top 25% of second year class; American Jurisprudence Award in Trial Advocacy

University of Colorado, Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy, May 1986

Honors: Dean’s List

LEGAL EXPERIENCE

Brien & Martinez Law, LLC (2010-present)

• Partner. Represent clients in criminal cases in trial courts, the Colorado Court of Appeals and the Colorado Supreme Court.

Office of the Colorado Public Defender (1989-2009)

1989-1991 Deputy State Public Defender—Trial Divisions (Golden and Pueblo)

• Represented clients in criminal cases in county court and district court. In 1991, received the Lowry Kelly Memorial Boot Camp Award for performance at the Public Defender Boot Camp training seminar.

1991-2009 Deputy State Public Defender—Appellate Division

• Litigated over 300 felony appeals (all levels), resulting in over 50 published cases. As one of two Senior Attorneys, supervised and evaluated other attorneys. Also represented, as part of a team, indigent defendants accused of capital crimes at both the district court and appellate level.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Fall 1995, 2005, 2007 Co-taught the Appellate Advocacy Clinic at the University
of Colorado School of Law.

1993-2009 Authored and co-authored materials on criminal law and procedure and taught legal seminars on numerous topics at Colorado State Public Defender annual conferences and Colorado Criminal Defense Bar events, including the following:

Objections, Motions and Arguments for Habitual Criminal Trials;

Justifiable Excuse/Excusable Neglect: A Look at Other States’ Laws on Collateral Attacks, Time Limitations and Grounds for Delay;

The Admissibility of Evidence of Battered Child Syndrome When Offered to Establish Self-Defense, Defense of Others, or Heat of Passion and/or to Negate the Necessary Mens Rea of a Charged Offense;

Prosecutorial Misconduct Issues When Prosecution Obtains Defendant’s Confidential and Privileged Medical Records and/or Confidential Employment Records Without Proper Authorization;

Raising Mental Condition as a Defense Under the New Act: Waiver of Privileges, Disclosure Obligations, Court-Ordered Examinations and Their Constitutional and Ethical Implications;

Warrantless Searches and Seizures – Constitutional Protections, Standing, Common Exceptions and the Exclusionary Rule;

Colorado Lifetime Sex Offender Supervision Act;

Odds & Ends: Recurring Problems, New Arguments, New Cases;

Sentencing: Hot Topics;

Blakely V. Washington: General Information and Sample Argument that Discretionary Aggravation Under Colorado’s Sentencing Scheme Violates the Rules Expressed in Apprendi;

Jury Instructions: Crafting and Developing Instructions and Preserving Issues;

Reining in the Experts: Trial Objections to Expert Testimony Offered by the Prosecution in Domestic Violence, Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Cases Including Relevance, Prejudice, Vouching for and Bolstering Credibility, Improper Appeals to Sympathy, Improper Profiling, Beyond the Scope, and Just Plain Wrong;

Preserving Appellate Issues

REPORTED CASES

Colorado Supreme Court Cases: Perez v. People, 231 P. 3d 957 (Colo. 2010) (with co-counsel); Domingo-Gomez v. People, 125 P.3d 1043 (Colo. 2005); People v. Vasquez, 84 P.3d 1019 (Colo. 2004) (co-counsel); Woldt v. People, 64 P.3d 256 (Colo. 2003) (co-counsel); People v. Palomo, 31 P.3d 879 (Colo. 2001); People v. Cooper, 27 P.3d 348 (Colo. 2001), aff’g People v. Cooper, 8 P.3d 554 (Colo. App. 2002); People v. Jasper, 17 P.3d 807 (Colo. 2001), rev’g People v. Jasper, 984 P.2d 1185 (Colo. App. 1999); People v. Lefebre, 5 P.3d 295 (Colo. 2000), aff’g People v. Lefebre, 981 P.2d 650 (Colo. App. 1998); Copeland v. People, 2 P.3d 1283 (Colo. 2000), aff’g People v. Copeland, 976 P.2d 334 (Colo. App. 1998); People v. Ullery, 984 P.2d 586 (Colo. 1999); Blecha v. People, 962 P.2d 931 (Colo. 1998), aff’g People v. Blecha, 940 P.2d 1070 (Colo. App. 1996); People v. Padilla, 907 P.2d 601 (Colo. 1995), rev’g People v. Padilla, 878 P.2d 4 (Colo. App. 1993); Key v. People, 865 P.2d 822 (Colo. 1994), rev’g People v. Key, 851 P.2d 228 (Colo. App. 1992); People v. Brown, 854 P.2d 228 (Colo. 1993); People v. Ibarra, 849 P.2d 33 (Colo. 1993); People v. Stead, 845 P.2d 1156 (Colo. 1993); People v. Henry, 845 P.2d 1160 (Colo. 1993)

Colorado Court of Appeals Cases (excluding those reviewed by the Colorado Supreme Court and listed above): People v. Brunsting, 224 P.3d 259 (Colo. App. 2009); People v. Ortiz, 155 P.3d 532 (Colo. App. 2006); People v. Lopez, 140 P.3d 106 (Colo. App. 2005); People v. Scott, 140 P.3d 98 (Colo. App. 2005); People v. Severin, 122 P.3d 1073 (Colo. App. 2005); People v. Denton, 91 P.3d 388 (Colo. App. 2003); People v. Clay, 74 P.3d 473 (Colo. App. 2003); People v. Howell, 64 P.3d 894 (Colo. App. 2002); People v. Becker, 55 P.3d 246 (Colo. App. 2002); People v. Gardner, 55 P.3d 231 (Colo. App. 2002); People v. McMurrey, 39 P.3d 1221 (Colo. App. 2001); People v. Koehler, 30 P.3d 694 (Colo. App. 2000); People v. Peoples, 8 P.3d 577 (Colo. App. 2000); People v. Gretz, 973 P.2d 110 (Colo. App. 1998); People v. Bastian, 981 P.2d 203 (Colo. App. 1998); People v. Mascarenas, 972 P.2d 717 (Colo. App. 1998); People v. Maxich, 971 P.2d 268 (Colo. App. 1998); People v. Rivera, 968 P.2d 1061 (Colo. App. 1997); People v. Garlotte, 958 P.2d 469 (Colo. App. 1997); People v. Roy, 948 P.2d 99 (Colo. App. 1997); People v. Naulls, 937 P.2d 778 (Colo. App. 1996); People v. Gurule, 924 P.2d 1164 (Colo. App. 1996); People v. O’Donnell, 926 P.2d 114 (Colo. App. 1996); People v. Berquist, 916 P.2d 629 (Colo. App. 1996); People v. Angell, 917 P.2d 312 (Colo. App. 1995); People v. Arnold, 907 P.2d 686 (Colo. App. 1995); People v. Jones, 907 P.2d 667 (Colo. App. 1995); People v. Page, 907 P.2d 624 (Colo. App. 1995); People v. Chavez, 902 P.2d 891 (Colo. App. 1995); People v. Dean, 894 P.2d 13 (Colo. App. 1994); People v. Mueller, 851 P.2d 211 (Colo. App. 1992)

PERSONAL INTERESTS

Family, friends, gardening, hiking, reading, writing