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Tag: Sonya Jaquez Lewis

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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All 66 Colorado Democrat Lawmakers Press Polis To Reject Clemency For Tina Peters
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

All 66 Colorado Democrat Lawmakers Press Polis To Reject Clemency For Tina Peters

By: Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun The letter warned that clemency would be a gift to conspiracy theorists and risks undermining the safety of future elections. All 66 Democrats in the Colorado legislature signed onto a letter Wednesday urging Gov. Jared Polis not to reduce the prison sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, a missive that escalates the party’s near-universal disapproval of Polis’ posture toward the case.  “This is about the security and assuredness of our elections,” the letter said. “This is about the future of our democracy, and of free and fair elections in our nation. We ask you to stand with us in safeguarding the future.” The letter says that clemency is “for those who have taken accountability for their crimes, understand ...
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Nine-year sentence questioned: Peters’ attorneys cite contrast with Lewis case
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Nine-year sentence questioned: Peters’ attorneys cite contrast with Lewis case

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Tina Peters’ attorneys said Wednesday they appreciate Gov. Jared Polis taking a look at her clemency request, pointing to what they believe is a sentencing disparity. Peters’ attorneys shared the statement with RMV after Polis posted about the case of former state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis while talking about clemency. They said that contrast between Lewis’ and Peters’ case is central to their clemency request. “Tina Peters is grateful to Governor Polis for considering her request for clemency,” the statement said. The defense team also echoed a comment Polis made in a recent social media post about fairness in the justice system. “As the governor said, Justice in Colorado and America needs to be applied evenly,...
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Same Colorado law, different outcomes: Probation in Denver, prison in Mesa County
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Same Colorado law, different outcomes: Probation in Denver, prison in Mesa County

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice In Colorado, the same felony statute led to two very different courtroom outcomes. One walked away with probation. Peters is now serving a prison sentence that stretches close to a decade. The case against Peters unfolded under Colorado’s statute on attempting to influence a public servant—§ 18-8-306, the same law used in the prosecution of former Colorado state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis. In Denver District Court, jurors convicted Lewis on four felony counts tied to forged letters submitted during a Senate ethics investigation. The Mesa County verdict came with far steeper consequences. Peters received a prison sentence totaling nine years. Gov. Jared Polis referenced the Lewis sentencing this week while ...
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From ethics complaint to felony conviction: How forged letters ended a Colorado lawmaker’s career
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

From ethics complaint to felony conviction: How forged letters ended a Colorado lawmaker’s career

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice The investigation that ended former Colorado Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis’ political career did not begin with police or prosecutors. It began inside her own office. It ended in a Denver courtroom. There, jurors found the former lawmaker guilty on four felony counts tied to letters submitted during a legislative ethics investigation. The workplace dispute had become a criminal case. No prison sentence followed. The judge handed down two years’ probation, 150 hours of community service and a $3,000 fine. Months earlier, aides had begun raising complaints about how Jaquez Lewis ran her office. They accused her of mistreating staff and assigning work unrelated to legislative duties. Those complaints quickly reached S...
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Amid ethics investigation and alleged fabricated letter of support, Colorado Sen. Lewis resigns
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Amid ethics investigation and alleged fabricated letter of support, Colorado Sen. Lewis resigns

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Longmont, who is under investigation for violating Senate ethics rules, announced her resignation Tuesday morning. Her resignation comes in the wake of revelations that she "fabricated" at least one letter of support from a former aide in her 17-page response to the ethics committee on Jan. 31. Questions have also been raised about the authenticity of four other letters of support. According to the Senate ethics committee, which met Tuesday morning, her resignation was effective Monday night at 7:15 p.m. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Senate committee questions Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis’ response to ethics complaint
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Senate committee questions Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis’ response to ethics complaint

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The Senate Ethics Committee began its discussion on the ethics complaint against Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Longmont, on Tuesday but appeared to take a dim view of how she responded to the complaints. Last week, the committee released dozens of documents about the complaints against Jaquez Lewis, who was re-elected to her second and final term last November. Included in that release: a 14-page response filed by the senator, who has been accused of abusive behavior against five legislative aides dating back to at least 2022. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Bipartisan Senate committee to review ethics complaint against state Sen. Jaquez Lewis
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Bipartisan Senate committee to review ethics complaint against state Sen. Jaquez Lewis

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Senate President James Coleman announced on Tuesday that the ethics complaint against Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Longmont, is moving to a committee. Jaquez Lewis has been accused of mistreating her aides. According to the Colorado Sun, a workplace misconduct complaint filed on Nov. 15 with the Office of Legislative Workplace Relations alleged she paid an aide to do landscaping work and tend bar, and that she paid him with a campaign check. She did not report those expenditures in her campaign finance reports. She also paid the aide to knock on doors for an Adams County commissioner candidate in the June primary who faced off against the wife of one of Jaquez Lewis' legislative rivals, according to reports.   READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORA...
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Ethics complaint filed against state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis over aide allegations
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Ethics complaint filed against state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis over aide allegations

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun A constituent of embattled state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis lodged an ethics complaint against the Longmont Democrat last week, alleging that Jaquez Lewis has failed to uphold her office with integrity and the public interest by mistreating her Capitol aides.  The complaint could lead to the most serious consequences yet for Jaquez Lewis, who has already been stripped of her committee assignments and barred from having state-paid staffers at the Capitol in light of the aide allegations. If leadership in the Senate agrees to advance the ethics complaint — as they’ve indicated they will do — it would initiate a committee investigation that could lead to a recommendation Jaquez Lewis be expelled from the chamber. It takes a two-thirds vote of t...
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Colorado senator barred from having state-paid aides after repeated complaints from staffers
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado senator barred from having state-paid aides after repeated complaints from staffers

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Colorado Senate leaders Tuesday barred a Democratic state lawmaker from having state-paid aides after two of her most recent staffers filed a workplace misconduct complaint claiming she used one of them to do chores like yard work and bartend at a party at her home. The complaint marks the second time in the past year state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis of Longmont has been accused of mistreating her legislative aides. “This is now clearly a recurring issue,” outgoing Senate President Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder, said in a letter to Jaquez Lewis. “In good conscience we cannot support placing an aide in your office while this behavior and complaints continue.” READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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