Tina Peters asks Colorado appeals court to recognize Trump’s pardon, release her from prison
DENVER (AP) — Old colorado election clerk Tina Peters asks state appeals court to recognize Pardon from President Donald Trump that state beliefs are valid.
Peters’ attorneys said in a motion filed Tuesday that the Colorado appeals court no longer has jurisdiction over Peter’s case because of the pardon Trump issued on Dec. 5. They also requested the court to release him from prison on pardon.
Peters was the former Mesa County, Colorado clerk. convicted of state crimes He was there as he orchestrated a data breach scheme stemming from false claims of voting machine fraud in the 2020 presidential race. Trump’s pardon power does not extend to state crimes.
In the court filing, Peters’ attorneys argued that President George Washington pardoned people convicted of both state and federal crimes in the Whiskey Rebellion of 1795. They urged the state appeals court to rule quickly. The court will hear the defense of Peters’ lawyers in his objection to his conviction on January 14.
The appeals court ruled Wednesday that attorneys with the state attorney general’s office defending the conviction can respond to Peters’ arguments by Jan. 8.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office declined to comment. Weiser had previously rejected this offer, which Trump announced on December 11.
“The idea that a president could pardon someone tried and convicted in state court has no precedent in American law, would be an outrageous departure from what our Constitution requires, and would not hold,” he said in a statement at the time.
If the appeals court rules that the pardon is not valid, Peter Ticktin, one of Peters’ attorneys, said he could take the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court while the state court continues to consider Peters’ appeal of his conviction.
Another of Peters’ attorneys, John Case, asked the state prison system to release Peters based on Trump’s pardon, but the state refused, according to an email included in the appeals court filing.
Peters earlier this month lost bid in federal court He will be released from prison while the state appeal is considered.
Peters, state judge condemned him Sentenced to nine years in prison, he violated her First Amendment rights by punishing her for making claims of election fraud.
During Peters’ sentencing in October 2024, Judge Matthew Barrett called Peters a “charlatan” and said he was a danger to society because he spread lies about voting and undermined the democratic process.
Peters was unrepentant and insisted that everything he did was aimed at rooting out what he believed was fraud. He claimed that his actions were for the greater good.
Peters was found guilty of allowing a man to misuse his security pass to gain access to the election system and of misleading that man about his identity. The man was linked to MyPillow’s chief executive Mike Lindella major supporter False claims that voting machines were manipulated to play vote From Trump.
