Peo v. Gibson

Colorado Court of Appeals·Decided July 30, 2026·No. 24CA0694·Unpublished

Opinion

24CA0694 Peo v Gibson 07-30-2026 COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS

Court of Appeals No. 24CA0694 El Paso County District Court No. 23CR982 Honorable Samuel Evig, Judge

The People of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Katariina Michelle Gibson, Defendant-Appellant.

JUDGMENT AFFIRMED

Division V

Opinion by JUDGE SCHUTZ

Lipinsky and Yun, JJ., concur

NOT PUBLISHED PURSUANT TO C.A.R. 35(e)

Announced July 30, 2026

Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General, Paul Koehler, Senior Counsel, Kit Timothy Beikmann, Assistant Attorney General Fellow, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff- Appellee

Leigh Horton, Alternate Defense Counsel, Denver, Colorado, for Defendant- Appellant

¶1 Defendant, Katariina Michelle Gibson, appeals the judgment of conviction entered against her for distribution of a controlled substance (fentanyl) resulting in death1 and her sentence to twenty-eight years in the custody of the Department of Corrections (DOC). Gibson contends that the trial court erred by (1) allowing the jury to have unfettered access during its deliberations to a video recording of her custodial interrogation (the recording) without first addressing whether law enforcement advised Gibson of her rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444 (1966), and whether Gibson waived those rights; (2) failing to instruct the jury on intervening cause — and relatedly — failing to find that there was insufficient evidence for the jury to conclude that her distribution of fentanyl proximately caused the victim’s death; and (3) sentencing her to twenty-eight years in the DOC. We affirm the conviction and sentence.

1 Gibson was also convicted of introducing contraband in the

second degree, but she does not appeal that conviction or the associated sentence.

I. Background

¶2 The jury heard evidence from which it could reasonably have found the following facts.

¶3 Gibson struggled with substance abuse for much of her life and spent time in and out of jail for various drug-related convictions. In 2022, she was sentenced to supervised probation for possession of a controlled substance. After her release, she missed scheduled drug tests and failed to report to detox as ordered.

¶4 Gibson eventually tested positive for multiple drugs, including fentanyl. She was subsequently arrested and placed into the custody of the El Paso County Jail for failing to comply with her probation terms. Gibson smuggled seven fentanyl pills into the jail in the waistband of her pants. In a recorded phone call from the jail, Gibson told a friend she “may or may not have had candy when I got here, but you know, . . . I got rid of it.”

¶5 While in custody, Gibson met Rhianna Moret, who shared a cell with the victim, Renee Lowrance. Moret testified that she obtained two fentanyl pills from Gibson and gave them to Lowrance

to settle a debt. On January 20, 2023, Lowrance died in her cell due to an accidental fentanyl overdose.

¶6 Before her connection to Lowrance’s death was discovered, Gibson was released to a sober living facility. Two days later, she missed a mandatory drug test and failed to appear at her next court hearing. Gibson was taken back into custody. That same day, Detective Jessica Brooke-Hess, who was investigating Lowrance’s death, interviewed Gibson about her involvement in the death. During the interview, Gibson admitted she was currently under the influence of fentanyl.

¶7 Brooke-Hess also interviewed Moret about her role in helping Lowrance obtain the pills. According to the arrest affidavit, Moret told detectives that she saw Lowrance return from using the jail’s phones with a pill, wrap it in paper, crush it, and snort it. According to Moret, Lowrance laid down to take a nap and she never woke up. At that time, Moret did not indicate that she directly gave the fentanyl to Lowrance.

¶8 Gibson was charged with distribution of a controlled substance (fentanyl) resulting in death and introducing contraband

in the second degree.2 After a trial, the jury convicted her of both offenses. The trial court sentenced Gibson to a controlling term of twenty-eight years in DOC custody.

II. The Recording

¶9 Gibson contends that the trial court erred by admitting the recording without making findings about whether Gibson had received and validly waived her Miranda rights before the interrogation, and by allowing the jury to have unfettered access to the recording. We discern no error.

A. Additional Facts

¶ 10 On the morning of Gibson’s arrest, Brooke-Hess and another officer interrogated her at the jail about the circumstances of Lowrance’s death. Although the interrogation was recorded, the audio is garbled and difficult to hear. At trial, Brooke-Hess testified about the events leading up to the interrogation, including advising Gibson of her Miranda rights, and that Gibson said she understood her rights, waived them, and decided to speak to the officers.

2 Gibson was also charged with an additional count of distribution

of a controlled substance (fentanyl); however, the prosecution dismissed that charge.

¶ 11 Brooke-Hess testified that during the interrogation — which lasted about twenty minutes — Gibson made the following statements:

• It was her fault Lowrance died and that she felt guilty.

• She felt comfortable selling pills to Moret but would not have provided them to Lowrance because she was aware that Lowrance had been in jail long enough to have a decreased tolerance for fentanyl.

• Even though Lowrance ultimately decided to take the pills, Gibson was still responsible for Lowrance’s death because Lowrance would not have had the opportunity to ingest fentanyl pills if Gibson had not brought them into the jail.

¶ 12 At trial, the prosecution offered into evidence a flash drive containing the recording. Gibson’s counsel did not object, and the court admitted the flash drive. Later, during the jury instruction conference, Gibson’s counsel objected to giving the jury unfettered access to the recording during deliberations and, alternatively, asked the court to limit the number of times the jury could view it.

¶ 13 The court admitted the recording without limitation over Gibson’s counsel’s objection after finding that recorded interviews of defendants are treated differently from other types of recordings and are admissible without limiting the jury’s access to them. See Carter v. People, 2017 CO 59M, ¶¶ 20-22. The trial court thus concluded that it was appropriate to allow the jury to have full access to the recording. Moreover, the court concluded that limiting the number of times that the jury could review the recording was particularly unwarranted in this case because the audio was difficult to hear and the jury might want to review and play back the recording to better understand the garbled portions.

B. Applicable Law

1. Preservation and Standard of Review

¶ 14 As noted, Gibson’s counsel did not object to the admission of the recording, and as it relates to Gibson’s appellate argument, her counsel made no objection based upon an allegedly inadequate Miranda advisement. Thus, we review Gibson’s Miranda argument for plain error. See Hagos v. People, 2012 CO 63, ¶ 14. An error is plain if it is so obvious and substantial that the trial court should have sua sponte prevented the error without the benefit of an

objection. Cardman v. People, 2019 CO 73, ¶ 34. We reverse for plain error only if the error undermined the judgment to the point that it cast serious doubt on the reliability of the conviction. Hagos,

¶ 14.

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