Walter Gerash, who tried noteworthy Colorado cases, dies at 96

Walter Gerash, a diminutive trial lawyer who could grow to mythical proportions while arguing trials in a courtroom, died Sunday in Littleton of natural causes after a long decline, according to his family.

He was 96.

Gerash tried some of Colorado’s most notorious cases, winning most of them, while leaving a legacy of creativity, ingenuity and fearlessness. His theatrical antics in the courtroom, along with his booming voice, became legendary.

Suing the University of Denver for negligence after a student broke his neck on a trampoline in 1978, Gerash brought the trampoline into the courtroom, along with a replica of a skeleton with a broken neck. During a break in proceedings, Gerash intentionally tossed the skeleton onto the trampoline with its head ajar,…