Peo v. Scott

CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 24, 2025
Docket23CA0729
StatusUnpublished

This text of Peo v. Scott (Peo v. Scott) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Peo v. Scott, (Colo. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

23CA0729 Peo v Scott 04-24-2025

COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS

Court of Appeals No. 23CA0729 Jefferson County District Court No. 15CR767 Honorable Christopher C. Zenisek, Judge

The People of the State of Colorado,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

Billy E. Scott,

Defendant-Appellant.

ORDER AFFIRMED

Division I Opinion by JUDGE YUN J. Jones and Berger*, JJ., concur

NOT PUBLISHED PURSUANT TO C.A.R. 35(e) Announced April 24, 2025

Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General, Josiah Beamish, Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee

R. Scott Reisch, Alternate Defense Counsel, Robert F. LeVeen, Alternate Defense Counsel, Denver, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant

*Sitting by assignment of the Chief Justice under provisions of Colo. Const. art. VI, § 5(3), and § 24-51-1105, C.R.S. 2024. ¶1 Billy E. Scott appeals the postconviction court’s order denying

his motion for relief under Crim. P. 35(c) after an evidentiary

hearing. Scott contends that his trial attorneys provided ineffective

assistance by failing to (1) seek additional expert opinions on bullet

ricochet; (2) produce testimony regarding his relationship with his

former girlfriend and with the victim; and (3) object to the trial

court’s complicity instruction. We reject each contention and affirm

the order.

I. Background

¶2 The division of this court that considered Scott’s direct appeal

summarized the underlying facts as follows:

[Scott] and his girlfriend, who worked together in the bail bond business, went to Troy Pitman’s home to question him about a woman who had skipped bail. Troy and his stepbrother, Larry, were in the garage; the garage door was open. [Scott] walked into the garage and punched Troy in the face. The two began fighting. According to [Scott’s] girlfriend’s testimony at trial, when Troy began getting the upper hand in the fight, [Scott] told his girlfriend to shoot Troy with her gun. The girlfriend pointed the gun toward Troy and Larry but did not shoot. [Scott] then walked behind his girlfriend, wrapped his arms around her, put his finger on top of her finger on the trigger of the gun, and shot Troy, killing him. Larry fled.

1 People v. Scott, slip op. at ¶ 2 (Colo. App. No. 16CA1553, Feb. 7,

2019) (not published pursuant to C.A.R. 35(e)) (Scott I).

¶3 A jury convicted Scott of one count of first degree murder after

deliberation, one count of felony murder, one count of menacing

with a deadly weapon, two counts of first degree burglary, and one

count of second degree burglary. The trial court sentenced Scott to

life in prison for the murder convictions plus sixty years for the

other convictions.

¶4 Scott appealed, and the Scott I division dismissed the appeal in

part, affirmed it in part, vacated it in part, and remanded the case

with directions. The division dismissed Scott’s appeal as to the

complicity instruction due to waiver and remanded to the trial court

to merge the burglary convictions, merge the felony murder

conviction into the conviction for murder after deliberation,

resentence Scott for first degree murder, and correct the mittimus.

Id. at ¶ 29.

¶5 After the case was remanded to the trial court, Scott filed a

motion for postconviction relief under Crim. P. 35(c) asserting

multiple claims of ineffective assistance from his trial attorneys. As

relevant here, Scott argued that his trial attorneys provided

2 ineffective assistance by (1) not consulting with additional experts

after a consulted expert did not agree with Scott’s theory of a

ricocheted bullet; (2) not presenting favorable evidence regarding

Scott’s relationships with both his associate/former girlfriend and

the victim; and (3) not objecting to the jury instruction on

complicity.

¶6 The postconviction court set the case for an evidentiary

hearing, where it heard testimony from both of Scott’s trial

attorneys, an expert witness on the ricochet theory, one of Scott’s

friends, and Scott himself. The court denied postconviction relief,

ruling that Scott failed to demonstrate both deficient performance

and prejudice for each of his claims.

II. Standard of Review and Applicable Law

¶7 A postconviction court’s ruling on a Rule 35(c) motion after a

hearing presents a mixed question of fact and law. People v. Sharp,

2019 COA 133, ¶ 12. “We defer to the court’s findings of fact if they

have record support, but we review any legal conclusions de novo.”

Id. The postconviction court determines the weight and credibility

to be given to the testimony of witnesses at a Rule 35(c) hearing.

People v. Hardin, 2016 COA 175, ¶ 39.

3 ¶8 “A criminal defendant is constitutionally entitled to effective

assistance from his counsel.” Ardolino v. People, 69 P.3d 73, 76

(Colo. 2003). “[T]o prevail on an ineffective assistance of counsel

claim, a defendant must prove that 1) counsel’s performance was

deficient and 2) the deficient performance prejudiced the defense.”

Dunlap v. People, 173 P.3d 1054, 1062 (Colo. 2007). The failure to

prove either of these two prongs defeats an ineffective assistance

claim. People v. Thompson, 2020 COA 117, ¶ 50.

¶9 To establish deficient performance, a defendant must prove

that counsel’s representation “fell below an objective standard of

reasonableness.” Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687-88

(1984). “[J]udicial scrutiny of counsel’s performance must be highly

deferential, evaluate particular acts and omissions from counsel’s

perspective at the time, and indulge a strong presumption that

counsel’s conduct falls within the wide range of reasonable

professional assistance.” Ardolino, 69 P.3d at 76.

¶ 10 To establish prejudice, a defendant must show that “there is a

reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s unprofessional errors,

the result of the proceeding would have been different.” Strickland,

4 466 U.S. at 694. A reasonable probability is “a probability sufficient

to undermine confidence in the outcome.” Id.

III. Failure to Seek Additional Expert Opinions on Ricochet

¶ 11 Scott first contends that his trial attorneys should have

consulted additional experts about whether the bullet ricocheted

after their initial expert told them he could not support the theory.

We agree with the postconviction court that Scott failed to establish

both deficient performance and prejudice under Strickland.

A. Additional Background

¶ 12 From the start of the case, Scott maintained that he believed

that the gun was not fired directly at the victim and that the victim

was killed by a ricochet. He told his attorneys as much, and they

retained a well-respected crime scene and ballistics expert, Jeff

Saviano, to investigate this theory. The postconviction court found

that one of Scott’s attorneys

asked Mr. Saviano about the possibility of a ricochet.

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Related

Davis v. Singletary
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Strickland v. Washington
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People v. Bradley
25 P.3d 1271 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2001)
Ardolino v. People
69 P.3d 73 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2003)
Commonwealth v. Tejeda
41 N.E.3d 721 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 2015)
People v. Hardin
2016 COA 175 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2016)
v. Sharp
2019 COA 133 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2019)
v. Thompson
2020 COA 117 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2020)
Dunlap v. People
173 P.3d 1054 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2007)
People v. Newmiller
2014 COA 84 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2014)
People v. Lopez
2015 COA 45 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2015)

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