Summaries of Published Opinions
| Publication year | 2022 |
| Pages | 88 |
FROM THE COURTS COLORADO SUPREME COURT
Summaries of Published Opinions
February 7, 2022
2022 CO 6. No. 20SC758. Garcia v. People.
Instructions—Criminal Law—Right to a Jury Trial.
In this opinion, the Supreme Court reviewed whether the trial court violated defendant's right to be presumed innocent by providing a supplemental jury instruction that defined the phrase "seizes and carries," as used in the second-degree kidnapping statute, CRS § 18-3-302(1), as "any movement, however short in distance." Because this instruction was an incorrect statement of the law that allowed the jury to convict defendant without finding that he seized the victim or moved the victim from one place to another, the error was not harmless, and defendant's conviction cannot stand.
Accordingly, the Court of Appeals' judgment was reversed.
February 14, 2022
2022 CO 7. No. 19SC763. People v. Ojeda.
Peremptory Challenges—Equal Protection— Constitution and Selection of Jury.
Defendant was convicted of kidnapping, sexually assaulting, and shooting a 15-year-old girl based on DNA evidence from the victim's rape kit. In a split decision, a division of the Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the trial court erred in denying defendant's challenge to an allegedly discriminatory juror strike under Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986).
On review, the Supreme Court held that because the prosecution offered an explicitly race-based reason for striking luror R.P., it did notmeetits burden of providing a race-neutral explanation for the strike, as required under step two of the Batson test. Accordingly, the division's judgment was affirmed, albeit on other grounds.
2022 CO 8. No. 20SC399. Rojas v. People. Res Gestae—Other Acts Evidence.
In this opinion, the Supreme Court abolished the common law res gestae doctrine in criminal cases in Colorado. In evaluating whether uncharged misconduct evidence triggers CRE 404(b), a trial court must first determine if the evidence is intrinsic or extrinsic to the charged offense. Intrinsic acts are those that (1) direcdy prove the charged offense or (2) occurred contemporaneously with the charged offense and facilitated the commission of it. Evidence of acts that are intrinsic to the charged offense is exempt from CRE 404(b) because they are not "other" crimes, wrongs, or acts. Accordingly, courts should...
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