People v. Jacobson

2017 COA 92
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 13, 2017
Docket10CA1476
StatusPublished
Cited by667 cases

This text of 2017 COA 92 (People v. Jacobson) 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. Jacobson, 2017 COA 92 (Colo. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS 2017COA92

Court of Appeals No. 10CA1476 City and County of Denver District Court No. 09CR510 Honorable Robert L. McGahey, Jr., Judge

The People of the State of Colorado,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

Sandra L. Jacobson,

Defendant-Appellant.

JUDGMENT AFFIRMED

Division IV Opinion by JUDGE WEBB Navarro and Kapelke*, JJ., concur

Announced July 13, 2017

Cynthia H. Coffman, Attorney General, Rebecca A. Jones, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee

Douglas K. Wilson, Colorado State Public Defender, Andrew C. Heher, Deputy State Public Defender, 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. 2016. ¶1 The general background appears in People v. Jacobson, 2014

COA 149 (Jacobson I), which reversed defendant’s conviction for

failure to poll the jury about exposure to extraneous, prejudicial

information. In People v. Jacobson, 2017 CO 28 (Jacobson II), the

supreme court reversed Jacobson I and remanded the case to us,

albeit without direction.

¶2 Before our mandate was issued, defendant, Sandra L.

Jacobson, asked us to decide two issues that had not been resolved

in Jacobson I. She correctly pointed out that either of these issues

could lead to reversal of the judgment of conviction entered on jury

verdicts finding her guilty of vehicular homicide, driving under the

influence (DUI), and other related charges, arising from a collision

between her truck and a taxi cab on Pena Boulevard.

¶3 We granted her request but now affirm the judgment of

conviction.

1 I. The Trial Court Did Not Err in Failing Sua Sponte to Instruct the Jury on the Statutory DUI Affirmative Defense of Having Consumed Alcohol Between the Time Defendant Stopped Driving and the Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) Testing Occurred

A. Additional Background

¶4 Defendant testified at trial. She described herself as having

been “stone cold sober” when the accident occurred at about 10:30

a.m. But she said that on arrival at the Denver International

Airport’s cargo terminal some fifteen minutes later, she drank a

Vitamin Water bottle that contained one-half 99 proof schnapps.

¶5 Two police officers contacted defendant at 10:58 a.m. Neither

noticed any indicia of alcohol intoxication. Although defendant

remained in police custody and interacted with other officers, not

until about 3:00 p.m. did an officer notice bloodshot, watery eyes,

and slurred speech. This officer administered a roadside sobriety

test, which defendant failed. Then he took her to a hospital for a

blood draw.

¶6 Samples were taken at 3:55 p.m., 5:00 p.m., and 6:01 p.m.

The test results showed that her BAC was .164, .143, and .121,

respectively. Based on these results, the prosecution presented

2 expert testimony that defendant’s BAC had been .274 at the time of

the accident.

¶7 Defense counsel did not request the trial court to instruct the

jury on the DUI affirmative defense of having consumed alcohol

between the time that she stopped driving and when the testing

occurred.

B. Standard of Review and Law

¶8 Where a defendant did not request an affirmative defense

instruction, review is limited to plain error. See, e.g., People v.

Griffin, 224 P.3d 292, 298 (Colo. App. 2009). Plain error permits an

appellate court “to correct particularly egregious errors.” Wilson v.

People, 743 P.2d 415, 420 (Colo. 1987). The error must be “‘so

clear-cut, so obvious,’ a trial judge should be able to avoid it

without benefit of objection.” People v. Ujaama, 2012 COA 36, ¶ 42

(quoting People v. Taylor, 159 P.3d 730, 738 (Colo. App. 2006)).

¶9 Even then, an appellate court will reverse only if a defendant

shows “that the court committed an obvious and substantial error

that undermined the fundamental fairness of the trial so as to cast

serious doubt on the reliability of the judgment of conviction.”

Griffin, 224 P.3d at 298. To be sure, reversals under plain error

3 “must be rare to maintain adequate motivation among trial

participants to seek a fair and accurate trial the first time.” Hagos

v. People, 2012 CO 63, ¶ 23.

¶ 10 “We review de novo the question of whether a jury instruction

accurately informed the jury of the governing law.” People v.

Carbajal, 2014 CO 60, ¶ 10. “It is the duty of the trial court to

‘correctly instruct the jury on all matters of law for which there is

sufficient evidence to support giving instructions.’” Id. (quoting

Cassels v. People, 92 P.3d 951, 955 (Colo. 2004)).

¶ 11 Section 42-4-1301(1)(a), C.R.S. 2016, defines DUI. According

to section 42-4-1301(2)(a),

if a defendant presents some credible evidence, that the defendant consumed alcohol between the time that the defendant stopped driving and the time that testing occurred, such issue shall be an affirmative defense, and the prosecution must establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the minimum 0.08 blood or breath alcohol content required in this paragraph (a) was reached as a result of alcohol consumed by the defendant before the defendant stopped driving.

(Emphasis added.) The parties have not cited a case, nor have we

found one, interpreting this language.

4 ¶ 12 Despite this dearth of precedent, the following uncontroverted

authorities are informative.

 “[P]roof of vehicular homicide under section 18-3-106(1)(b)(I)

required proof that defendant operated a vehicle while under

the influence of alcohol or drugs, or a combination thereof.”

People v. Grassi, 192 P.3d 496, 500 (Colo. App. 2008).

 “[T]o present an affirmative defense for jury consideration, the

defendant must present ‘some credible evidence’ on the issue

involving the claimed defense.” People v. Garcia, 113 P.3d

775, 783-84 (Colo. 2005) (citing § 18-1-407, C.R.S. 2016).

 Whether a defendant has met this burden is a question of law,

subject to de novo review. Id.

 “Whatever questions may remain in federal law concerning

precisely when an affirmative defense ‘controverts,’ or ‘does

negate’ an element of an offense, long before the federal

constitution was construed to impose limitations on the

common law rule requiring criminal defendants to prove

affirmative defenses, we in this jurisdiction interpreted the

state due process clause to do so.” Montoya v. People, 2017

CO 40, ¶ 24.

5 ¶ 13 On this much, the parties largely agree. As to the intersection

between plain error and omission of a statutory affirmative defense,

however, they differ. But we decline to resolve that difference

because we conclude that the trial court did not err in failing sua

sponte to instruct on the statutory affirmative defense.

C. Discussion

¶ 14 To begin, the Attorney General asserts that defendant invited

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Bluebook (online)
2017 COA 92, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-jacobson-coloctapp-2017.