Tina Peters plans appeal to Colorado Supreme Court, lawyer says
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Tina Peters, the former Republican Mesa County clerk, plans to appeal a recently-denied rehearing request to the Colorado Supreme Court, her lawyer told Colorado Newsline Friday.
“That is exactly what we are planning to do,” lawyer Peter Ticktin wrote in a text message.
Peters is serving time in state prison for her role in a 2021 security breach in her own elections office. The Colorado Court of Appeals earlier this month upheld her conviction but ordered a resentencing for Peters. She was convicted on felony charges during a jury trial and sentenced to nine years in prison in October 2024.
Peters had requested a rehearing in front of a three-judge panel of the appeals court. In that request, her lawyers wrote that they needed more time for their argument that the supremacy clause of the Constitution protected Peters from state prosecution when she allowed unauthorized access to voting equipment, because she was acting in a federal capacity.
That request was denied earlier this week.
The security breach was part of an attempt to find evidence of fraud in the 2020 election. Claims that the election was fraudulent or compromised have been debunked by elections officials, experts, media investigations, law enforcement, the courts and Trump’s own campaign and administration officials.
An appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court could push Peters’ resentencing hearing out “at least six months or even two years,” depending on how much time the court spends deciding whether to take the case and to hear it, according to Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein, who prosecuted Peters in district court.
An appeal to the state Supreme Court would be the latest development in a string of legal maneuvers by Peters and her allies, including a habeas corpus petition in federal court, effort to transfer her to a federal facility, and a pardon from President Donald Trump, who does not have authority to pardon state offenses.
Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, has also signaled openness to grant her clemency.