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Peters Release Day Arrives With Key Details Still Unknown
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Peters Release Day Arrives With Key Details Still Unknown

By Nancy Lofholm | The Colorado Sun Gov. Jared Polis commuted the former Mesa County clerk’s sentence last month, making her eligible for parole and setting off a national firestorm over her role in attempting to interfere with an election. Tina Peters is scheduled to be released from a state prison in Pueblo Monday after Gov. Jared Polis controversially commuted the former Mesa County clerk’s sentence last month, cutting it in half.Peters, 70, has been imprisoned since 2024 for election fraud and official misconduct after she snuck an outside election denier into the off-limits Mesa County Elections Division office so he could copy the hard drive from the county’s voting system. Sentenced to nine years in October 2024, Polis cut her prison time in half on May 15 and made h...
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Colorado Democrats Punish Polis Over Decision In Tina Peters Case
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Approved, DENVER7, State

Colorado Democrats Punish Polis Over Decision In Tina Peters Case

By Kaylee Harter | Denver7 The 90% vote bars Polis from participating as an honored guest, featured speaker or official rep of the Colorado Democratic Party at events. The Colorado Democratic Party State Central Committee voted overwThelmingly to censure Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday, formally rebuking him for commuting the sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. The censure bars the governor from participating as an honored guest, featured speaker or official representative of the Colorado Democratic Party at party-sponsored events, including the Obama Gala and DemFest. The motion, read by DNC member Stephanie Beal, said the committee found that Polis' decision to grant clemency to Peters "materially harmed the Colorado Democratic Party's institutional credibility and ef...
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Polis Predicts History Will Favor His Decision In Tina Peters Case
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Polis Predicts History Will Favor His Decision In Tina Peters Case

By Brian Eason and Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Gov. Jared Polis made the remarks at The Colorado Sun’s annual legislative recap event at the University of Denver, only to be drowned out by a small group of protesters. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday said he doesn’t regret his decision to commute the prison sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, despite widespread condemnation from Democrats and some Republicans, who said it will embolden election conspiracy theorists ahead of the 2026 midterms. “I think this will be remembered fondly,” Polis said at The Colorado Sun’s annual legislative recap event at the University of Denver. “The nation needs to have a reconciliation and healing. “People know I’m a man of action,” he added. “I’m a bold pers...
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Polis explained both commutations in writing. One drew a party revolt.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Polis explained both commutations in writing. One drew a party revolt.

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Democrats organized a censure push over Tina Peters. No comparable campaign emerged over the commutation of Brandin Kreuzer. On the same day Gov. Jared Polis commuted Tina Peters' sentence, he granted clemency to a man convicted of shooting a Douglas County sheriff's deputy during a 2008 crime spree. Peters drew a formal complaint signed by hundreds of Democrats, an impeachment call and a sitting U.S. senator's rebuke. The other commutation drew none of that. No party complaint. No impeachment call. No signature drive. Polis put both of his reasons in writing. Two letters, one day Brandin Kreuzer was charged with attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer and convicted of first-degree assault, along with second-degree kidnappi...
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Polis commutes Tina Peters sentence before resentencing begins
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Polis commutes Tina Peters sentence before resentencing begins

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Two weeks ago, the judge who first sent Tina Peters to prison called her resentencing “inevitable.” Friday afternoon, Gov. Jared Polis stopped it before it could happen. In an executive order issued May 15, Polis commuted Peters’ sentence to 4 years and 4.5 months and ordered her released on parole effective June 1. The Colorado Parole Board will determine the terms of her release. Peters had served 591 days of the nearly nine-year sentence imposed in October 2024 after a Mesa County jury convicted her on seven election-related counts. The Colorado Court of Appeals vacated that sentence April 2, ruling the trial court improperly considered Peters’ protected speech regarding election fraud claims during sentencing while still upholding ...
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Weiser’s record: The special prosecution paradox
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Weiser’s record: The special prosecution paradox

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice When a serial killer was working his way through the San Luis Valley, Anne Kelly's eight-lawyer office needed help. She didn't call the Attorney General. "That case was certainly a prime case for which the attorney general's office could have assisted," said Kelly, the 12th Judicial District DA whose office covers six rural counties in southern Colorado. "Instead, the Boulder County District Attorney's Office sent a crew of people upon the request of the district attorney and handled that case from start to finish. And that was really the only reason why that case was as successful as it was." The case was against Adre Baroz, known as "Psycho," sentenced in May 2024 for five murders in the San Luis Valley. He is servin...
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Colorado Democrats Face Backlash Over Reduced Sentences for Violent Crimes
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TownHall.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado Democrats Face Backlash Over Reduced Sentences for Violent Crimes

By Amy Curtis | Commentary, Townhall Earlier, we told you that four Colorado Democrats killed a bill that would have barred probation for some child sex crimes, and now it turns out the Democrats just passed legislation that downgraded sentencing for murders under certain circumstances. This means that the possibility of a life sentence for murdering one person is no longer an option. https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/2051779051790962919?s=20 Insane. https://twitter.com/tadgh_dc/status/2051982051885105452?s=20 That'll solve the problem. https://twitter.com/AmericanBear76/status/2051858794162872381?s=20 READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT TOWNHALL Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are thos...
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Judge Barrett denies Tina Peters bond, calls future appeals “frivolous”
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Judge Barrett denies Tina Peters bond, calls future appeals “frivolous”

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Tina Peters will not be released from custody. Judge Matthew Barrett denied her renewed motion for bond pending appeal Tuesday morning—two days after refusing to step aside from her case. The nine-page order keeps Peters in prison while her legal team prepares to take the bond question to the Colorado Court of Appeals, the same panel that threw out her sentence earlier this month. Barrett did not hold a hearing. He found he could not conclude Peters is unlikely to flee, called her future appeals "frivolous" and said they would be pursued "for the purpose of delay." "Finality is critical to the resolution of the judicial process," Barrett wrote, "and it would be contrary to the law to ignore the reality that Defendant would use all mean...
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Peters’ defense says Barrett used facts that were never in evidence
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Peters’ defense says Barrett used facts that were never in evidence

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice The state said Judge Matthew Barrett's sentencing remarks about Tina Peters were harsh words from the bench, not evidence of bias. Peters' legal team answered with a different question: how did the judge know she appeared on podcasts? Where did he get the words "snake oil" and "junk"? The state's response did not touch that argument. The judge being asked to step aside will decide it. Three filings hit the Mesa County docket between late Thursday and Friday morning. District Attorney Dan Rubinstein's office opposed Peters' motion to disqualify Barrett. Her attorneys replied by introducing a theory the state never touched—that Barrett's sentencing comments relied on an "extrajudicial source," meaning information the judge obtained from out...
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Before Peters is resentenced, Barrett must decide whether he keeps the case
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Before Peters is resentenced, Barrett must decide whether he keeps the case

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice A Mesa County judge has ordered the state’s attorneys to respond to a motion seeking his removal from the Tina Peters case, setting up a legal fight that will determine who presides over her resentencing—and who decides whether she remains in prison while that process unfolds. In an April 22 order, District Court Judge Matthew Barrett directed the state to file a response “as soon as practicable,” with a deadline of April 27. The order does not resolve the issue. It moves it forward. Now the court must decide whether Barrett can remain on the case—and nothing else in district court moves until that question is answered. 2026-0422 ACTION TAKEN_VERIFIED MOTION TO DISQUALIFY JUDGE MATTHEW BARRETT - People Respond by 4-27Download ...
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