Divided Appeals Court Upholds Convictions
A divided appeals court in Colorado has upheld a man's convictions for unlawful possession of a firearm, despite acknowledging potentially unfair police testimony.
Matthew Torres had attempted to exclude evidence of a handgun found in his waistband, arguing that police had stopped and frisked him in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
The majority acknowledged it was potentially unfair that a Denver officer testified to a different sequence of events at trial than earlier in the case.
- Torres argued that police had violated his Fourth Amendment rights.
- A trial judge disagreed, finding that police had reasonable suspicion to stop Torres.
The ruling was based on pretrial testimony from an officer who claimed to have seen a gun on Torres before he was seized.
Author's summary: Court upholds convictions despite unfair testimony.