By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics
Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday decided a Weld County judge should have instructed jurors to consider whether a man accused of murder acted in self-defense, given that some evidence at the crime scene supported that theory.
Jurors convicted Kenneth James Hoschouer III in 2021 of murdering his friend, Christopher Grau, at Grau’s residence in Firestone two years earlier. The prosecution’s evidence showed Hoschouer was intoxicated, angry and had the murder weapon concealed in his home after the killing. Hoschouer received 48 years in prison.
On appeal, Hoschouer claimed there were numerous errors with his trial, including his inability to have jurors consider the possibility of self-defense.