Colorado court throws out election denier Tina Peters’ 9-year sentence for tampering with election equipment
The state appeals court is asking the trial court to resentence Peters.
The Colorado Court of Appeals has thrown out election denier Tina Peters’ nine-year prison sentence, finding that the lower court violated her First Amendment right to free speech related to her allegations of election fraud.
“The trial court’s comments about Peters’s belief in the existence of 2020 election fraud went beyond relevant considerations for her sentencing,” a three-judge panel wrote in a 77-page opinion that also upheld her conviction on charges including official misconduct in connection with a security breach of Mesa County’s voting system.
“Her offense was not her belief, however misguided the trial court deemed it to be, in the existence of such election fraud; it was her deceitful actions in her attempt to gather evidence of such fraud. Indeed, under these circumstances, just as her purported beliefs underlying her motive for her actions were not relevant to her defense, the trial court should not have considered those beliefs relevant when imposing sentence.”
Colorado appeals court overturns Tina Peters’ sentence in election security breach
The appeals court ordered a judge to re-evaluate the punishment for the former Mesa County clerk
https://coloradosun.com/2026/04/02/colorado-court-of-appeals-overturns-tina-peters-sentence/