People v. Green

2012 COA 68, 296 P.3d 260, 2012 WL 1435936, 2012 Colo. App. LEXIS 632
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 26, 2012
DocketNo. 08CA2439
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 2012 COA 68 (People v. Green) 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
People v. Green, 2012 COA 68, 296 P.3d 260, 2012 WL 1435936, 2012 Colo. App. LEXIS 632 (Colo. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge J. JONES.

T 1 Defendant, Jeffrey Dewayne Green, appeals the judgment of conviction entered on a jury verdict finding him guilty of first degree criminal trespass, his sentence on that conviction, and his adjudication and sentencing as a habitual criminal. We affirm.

I. Background

{2 Defendant travelled from Colorado Springs to Denver to visit the victim, with whom he was in an intimate relationship. The victim's friend D.H. had been staying at the victim's house for the previous three nights.

13 After spending several hours at the victim's house, defendant and D.H. accompanied the victim to the restaurant where she worked. While there, defendant and the vie-tim had a physical altercation, after which the victim told defendant "to leave [her] alone and never talk to [her] again." One of the victim's friends brought defendant's belongings from the victim's house to the restaurant, and defendant left the restaurant. Later, D.H. also left the restaurant and went to the victim's house.

{4 When the victim finished working, she picked up D.H. from her house, and drove him to his girlfriend's house. She returned home around 3:45 a.m. After she undressed, defendant emerged from her living room and approached her, asking to talk to her. She told him to get out of her house, and called 9-1-1. After defendant left, the victim discovered that the window screen in her son's bedroom had been broken.

T5 The People charged defendant with second degree burglary, first degree criminal trespass, third degree assault, unlawful sexual contact, criminal mischief, harassment, and three habitual criminal counts. The People later added a criminal impersonation count, to which defendant pled guilty before trial.

T6 A jury found defendant guilty of first degree criminal trespass, but acquitted him of the other charges. After several hearings, the district court adjudicated defendant a habitual criminal, and sentenced him to twelve years in the custody of the Department of Corrections for the trespass convietion, plus two years mandatory parole; and six years in prison for the criminal impersonation conviction, to be served concurrently with the twelve-year sentence.

II Discussion

7 On appeal, defendant contends that the district court erred by (1) twice refusing to give a jury instruction saying that a person who has possessory rights in or occupies a premises may authorize another person to enter; (2) violating his constitutional and statutory speedy trial rights during post-trial proceedings; (8) denying his motion for a jury trial on the habitual criminal charges; and (4) declining to conduct an extended proportionality review of his sentence. We address and reject each contention in turn.

[265]*265A. Possessory Rights Instruction

1. Background

18 The court instructed the jury on the elements of first degree trespass as follows:

The elements of the crime of First Degree Criminal Trespass are:
1. That the defendant,
2. in the State of Colorado, at or about the date and place charged,
knowingly and unlawfully entered or remained in a dwelling of another.

In Instruction 23, the court defined "[uJnlaw-fully [elnter or [rlemain" as to "enter or remain in or upon premises when [the person] is not licensed, invited, or otherwise privileged to do so." The court further instructed the jury that "[defendant] maintains he is Not Guilty of ... First Degree Criminal Trespass because he had permission to enter, and therefore did not enter unlawfally.”

19 Defendant's counsel also tendered the following instruction:

It is a defense to the charge[] of ... First Degree Criminal Trespass that a defendant had permission to enter.
Previously granted permission to enter premises must be withdrawn before a defendant can be convicted of ... First Degree Criminal Trespass.
A person who has possessory rights or oceupies the dwelling is authorized to give another person permission to enter; ownership is not required.

I 10 As relevant here, defendant's counsel argued that the instruction was justified because the victim had testified that defendant had told her D.H. had let him in, D.H. had stayed at the house for three nights, and there was evidence D.H. had a key to the house.

1 11 The court refused to give the instruction, ruling that the other instructions would "accurately and completely advise the jury," and noting, "I'm not satisfied that this instruction is an accurate statement of the law ... particularly in connection with the facts . in this case and the reasonable inferences that can be drawn from them."

€ 12 During deliberations, the jury submitted the following questions: "Would [D.H.] letting [defendant] into [the viectim]l's home be considered an unlawful entry? Even without [the victim]'s permission? If he had a key?" Defense counsel again asked the court to give the possessory rights instruction. The court refused, instructing the jury, "Please refer to the definition of 'unlawfully enter or remain' in instruction no. 23. You must consider this instruction and all the other instructions as a whole."

2, Analysis

113 The district court "has a duty to instruct the jury on all matters of law applicable to the case." Riley v. People, 266 P.3d 1089, 1092 (Colo.2011). However, a defendant is not entitled to an instruction on a theory of defense unless there is "a sceintilla of evidence" (or "some credible evidence") supporting it. People v. Saavedra-Rodriguez, 971 P.2d 223, 228 (Colo.1998); People v. Platt, 170 P.3d 802, 806 (Colo.App.2007), aff'd, 201 P.3d 545 (Colo.2009).

114 We review de novo whether the defendant has met this burden, considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the defendant. See Saavedra-Rodriguez, 971 P.2d at 228; see also Mata-Medina v. People, 71 P.3d 973, 979 (Colo.2003); People v. DeWitt, 275 P.3d 728, - - - (Colo.App.2011).1

115 The victim testified that she had not given D.H. permission to let defendant into her house, and that D.H. told her he had not let defendant in. D.H. testified that he did not let defendant into the house and that the victim had not given him permission to let defendant into the house. There was unrebutted testimony that when the victim came home at 3:15 am., D.H. was at the house, but that the victim then took D.H. to his girlfriend's house. There was no evidence that defendant was in the house when [266]*266the victim first came home at 3:15 a.m. or before she left very shortly thereafter with D.H. to take D.H. to his girlfriend's house. The victim returned to the house at about 3:45 a.m.

16 Nonetheless, defendant contends that because the victim testified that defendant had told her that D.H. had let him in, and because none of the other instructions addressed whether D.H. could legally give defendant permission to enter the victim's house, the court erred by refusing to give the possessory rights instruction.

117 However, earlier in the victim's testimony about her conversations with D.H., defense counsel made a hearsay objection.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2012 COA 68, 296 P.3d 260, 2012 WL 1435936, 2012 Colo. App. LEXIS 632, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-green-coloctapp-2012.