The Colorado Court of Appeals issued one opinion on September 24. Read the summary and entire opinion, below.
The People of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ricardo Gonzalez Perez, Defendant-Appellant. 2026 COA 72. A division of the court of appeals considers, for the first time,
what standard to apply when a criminal defendant seeks to suppress an incriminating statement made by another because he alleges that it was made involuntarily due to coercion, thus violating his due process rights.
The division adopts a standard uniformly applied by lower federal courts and California state courts, which imposes a burden on the defendant to show that the statement at issue was made involuntarily as a result of improper coercion and provides that the district court may, but is not required to, hold an evidentiary hearing if no disputed facts are at issue. Because the defendant in this case proffered no disputed facts that the statements made by the codefendants were obtained through coercion, the division concludes that the district court did not abuse its discretion by declining to hold an evidentiary hearing. Read the opinion.