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Colorado Supreme Court rules Robert Feldman, on trial in Denver for the murder of his wife, can use up to $500,000 from her life insurance to pay for his defense

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"109460728"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><header id&equals;"ra-headers">&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;2e2727&semi;">Denver DA&&num;8217&semi;s office in June 2018&comma; charged 54-year -old Robert Feldman with first-degree murder for the strangulation death of his wife Stacy on Mar 1&comma; 2015<&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;2e2727&semi;">Suspect Robert Feldman&comma; had been paid &dollar;751&comma;910 as the sole beneficiary of his wife&&num;8217&semi;s life insurance policy by the time charges were filed against him<&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;2e2727&semi;">Colorado Supreme Court ruled Monday that Feldman&comma; 54&comma; who &&num;8216&semi;killed his wife&&num;8217&semi; can use up to &dollar;500&comma;000 from her life insurance to pay for his defense<&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;2e2727&semi;">Court overturned ruling by lower court prohibiting the suspect using the money as defense fund&comma; because of &&num;8216&semi;slayer statute&&num;8217&semi; <&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;2e2727&semi;">That is&comma; if you&&num;8217&semi;re responsible for a death&comma; you have no claim over person&&num;8217&semi;s estate<&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;2e2727&semi;">Robert Feldman&&num;8217&semi;s lawyers argued he has the right to presumption of innocence&comma; and the superior court agreed<&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<div>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"mol-para-with-font"><strong><span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi;"><br &sol;>&NewLine;<img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-322206" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;06&sol;Stacy-Feldman-3&period;png" alt&equals;"Stacy Feldman 3" width&equals;"763" height&equals;"426" &sol;>Robert Feldman is charged with the first-degree murder in the death of his wife Stacy &lbrack;photo&rsqb;&comma; who was killed in 2015<&sol;span><&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">A Denver man accused of killing his wife can use more than &dollar;500&comma;000 received from her life insurance policy to pay for the lawyers defending him against the murder charge&comma; Colorado&&num;8217&semi;s highest court has ruled&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The opinion by the Colorado Supreme Court on Monday overturned a probate judge&&num;8217&semi;s ruling that Robert Feldman&comma; 55&comma; who is charged with first-degree murder in the 2015 slaying of his wife&comma; Stacy&comma; was not entitled to the insurance proceeds because of the state&&num;8217&semi;s &&num;8216&semi;slayer statute&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The Denver District Attorney&&num;8217&semi;s office in June 2018  <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;kdvr&period;com&sol;2018&sol;03&sol;05&sol;affidavit-denver-murder-suspects-affair-exposed-on-day-wife-was-killed&sol;">charged 54-year -old Robert Feldman with first-degree murder for the strangulation death of his wife<&sol;a> Stacy&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Feldman claimed to have found his  wife unresponsive in the couple&&num;8217&semi;s shower on the afternoon of March 1&comma; 2015&period; But a police surgeon who testified at a preliminary hearing against the victim&&num;8217&semi;s husband&comma; the death of Stacy Feldman was staged to look like an accidental death&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Dr&period; William Smock concluded that Stacy Feldman&&num;8217&semi;s &&num;8220&semi;injuries are the result of an assault&comma; which included blunt force trauma&comma; strangulation and suffocation&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"artSplitter mol-img-group">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mol-img">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"image-wrap fff-pic">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"overlay-icon mobile-gallery">&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"mobile-gallery-icon"><strong><span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi;"><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-322201" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;06&sol;Robert-Feldman-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Robert Feldman 1" width&equals;"667" height&equals;"501" &sol;>Murder suspect Robert Feldman &lbrack;photo&rsqb;&comma; had been paid &dollar;751&comma;910 as the sole beneficiary of his wife&&num;8217&semi;s life insurance policy by the time charges were filed against him&period; A Denver court has just ruled that he can use more than &dollar;500&comma;000 received from the payout to pay for his legal defense in the murder trial <&sol;span><&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<div><&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">That law bars anyone from gaining any financial benefit from another&&num;8217&semi;s estate if they are held criminally responsible for causing the death&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;However&comma; the higher court ruled that the statute does not to apply to a third party &&num;8211&semi; in this case a legal defense team &&num;8211&semi; that is paid for a &&num;8216&semi;legally enforceable obligation&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Criminal charges were not filed until nearly three years after the woman&&num;8217&semi;s death&comma; by which time Robert Feldman had been paid &dollar;751&comma;910 as the sole beneficiary of his wife&&num;8217&semi;s life insurance policy&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The slayer statue&comma; Monday&&num;8217&semi;s opinion said&comma; &&num;8216&semi;does not expressly address the question of freezing insurance proceeds until it can be determined&&num;8230&semi;whether the person receiving the payment was entitled to receive it or not&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Investigators were suspicious of Feldman early on but the medical examiner&&num;8217&semi;s office initially said it was unable to determine the cause and manner of the 44-year-old woman&&num;8217&semi;s death&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Court records indicate the lead detective suspected foul play from the beginning because Feldman appeared to be &&num;8220&semi;overacting in an effort to avoid speaking with him&&num;8221&semi; when the detective tried to question him about his wife&&num;8217&semi;s death soon after responding to Feldman&&num;8217&semi;s  911 call&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;First responders said they found Feldman to be &&num;8220&semi;over-dramatic&&num;8221&semi; and &&num;8220&semi;purposely not cooperative&&num;8221&semi; to the point they had to request police assistance because he was yelling and wailing and getting so close to his wife that he was interfering with medic duties&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Feldman repeatedly told police his wife had ingested marijuana edibles the night before she died&comma; but there was no trace in her body at the time of the autopsy&comma; which Feldman said he didn&&num;8217&semi;t want performed&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;In addition&comma; Feldman&&num;8217&semi;s whereabouts on the day of Stacy Feldman&&num;8217&semi;s death could not be easily explained&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-322203" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;06&sol;Robert-and-Stacy-Feldman-3&period;png" alt&equals;"Robert and Stacy Feldman 3" width&equals;"684" height&equals;"674" &sol;><strong>Stacy Feldman was supposed to pick up the couple&&num;8217&semi;s two children from Religious School at Temple Sinai  in Denver at noon on Mar 1 2015&comma; the day she was killed&comma; but failed to turn up<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>Stacy Feldman was supposed to pick up the couple&&num;8217&semi;s two children from Religious School at Temple Sinai at noon&period; When she failed to show up&comma; a teacher called both Stacy Feldman and her husband&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Stacy didn&&num;8217&semi;t respond&comma; but Robert told his daughter he would be there shortly&period; When he didn&&num;8217&semi;t show up by 12&colon;45 pm&comma; the teacher called him again and this time he said he thought a family friend would pick up his children&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;When Robert Feldman finally showed up at 1&colon;05 p&period;m&period;&comma; the teacher told police his behavior had been odd&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Nearly a month later&comma; o<span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi;">n March 24&comma; 2015&comma; detectives received an anonymous letter raising concerns about Stacy Feldman&&num;8217&semi;s death&comma; according to the affidavit&period; The letter stated that the dead woman had been <&sol;span>texting a friend on the morning of her death about plans to pick up the children from school at noon&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;On June 11&comma; 2015&comma; police tip line received a call from a woman who said she had met the suspect in February 2015 through the online dating site Tinder&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The pair <span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi;">met for coffee on Feb&period; 23&comma; 2015&comma; and he was reluctant to share his last name but eventually told her it was &&num;8220&semi;Wolfe&&num;8221&semi; not Feldman&comma; while claiming he was divorced&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The caller said <&sol;span>Feldman came to her house for dinner on Feb&period; 25 and they had sex that night&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;After that encounter&comma; she told police that Feldman blew her off so she researched him online and discovered he was likely married to Stacy Feldman&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The female tipster told police that she emailed Stacy Feldman on the morning of March 1&comma; 2015&comma; the date of Stacy Feldman&&num;8217&semi;s death&comma; and asked if she and Robert were divorced&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Stacy confirmed she was still married to the caller&&num;8217&semi;s new love interest&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The woman then told the wife about the relationship with Robert Feldman&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;According to the affidavit&comma; Stacy Feldman responded that Robert had cheated on her in the past&comma; but this time she was &&num;8220&semi;done with him&period;&&num;8221&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;In July 2015&comma; detectives learned American General Life Insurance had paid a &dollar;750&comma;000 claim to Robert Feldman for a life insurance policy on his wife that had been purchased in 2010&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6>&NewLine;<img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-322204" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;06&sol;Robert-and-Stacy-Feldman-2&period;png" alt&equals;"Robert and Stacy Feldman 2" width&equals;"646" height&equals;"816" &sol;><strong>Robert &lbrack;right&rsqb;&comma; dated and dumped a woman he met on Tinder&comma; who then revealed the relationship to Stacy &lbrack;left&rsqb; on the day she was killed<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>The insurance company said it had no record of a policy on Robert Feldman&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;A week later&comma; on July 23&comma; 2015&comma; police reviewed the 911 call made by Robert Feldman&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Detectives say they could hear a toilet being flushed and statements that could be considered &&num;8220&semi;guilty indicators&&num;8221&semi; made by Robert Feldman&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Despite the 911 caller giving Robert Feldman instructions on how to perform CPR&comma; detectives heard no changes in respiration or any other indicators that Feldman was performing CPR&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Investigators ultimately enlisted an outside physician specializing in domestic violence strangulation cases to review the autopsy results&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The expert concluded that the victim died from a violent assault and strangulation&comma; according to the arrest warrant affidavit&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Feldman&comma; arrested in 2018&comma; gave his attorneys &dollar;555&comma;000 from the insurance payout&comma; which was deposited into the law firm&&num;8217&semi;s account&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The legal guardian of the couple&&num;8217&semi;s two minor children successfully argued to the probate court that Feldman was not entitled to the proceeds after he was charged with his wife&&num;8217&semi;s murder&period; The law firm appealed against the ruling&comma; setting the stage for the higher court&&num;8217&semi;s decision&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Legal analyst Craig Silverman&comma; a former Denver prosecutor not involved in the case&comma; said the children lost out in the balancing test applied by the court&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8216&semi;When there is tension between civil rights and the criminal rights of an accused&comma; the courts often emphasize the need for a fair trial and the panoply of rights afforded a criminal defendant&comma;&&num;8217&semi; Silverman said&period; That included a presumption of innocence&comma; he added&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;header>&NewLine;

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