PUEBLO, Colo. (KXRM) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, a civil rights organization, won petitions for three Coloradans who were illegally imprisoned.
On Friday, Nov. 1, a Pueblo District Court determined that the City of Pueblo had violated a basic constitutional requirement and had failed to issue charging documents that would have allowed the petitioners to prepare a defense, and would have protected the three against future charges for the same offenses.
Dean Lopez, Lyrcis Martinez, and Michael Tafoya were all jailed for missing court dates in Pueblo. They were jailed under a "Contempt of Court" municipal ordinance that Pueblo created in 2017 that criminalized missing court.
The ordinance subjected people to up to 364 days in jail, even when the alleged offense that brought the person to court originally had no jail time, including offenses like loitering or standing in the median.
“The city’s initial defense was to claim that it could jail people for hundreds of days without providing basic constitutional protections because they were not being charged with a crime. The judge saw right through that charade. Now the city is claiming that the court’s voiding of the convictions is based on a technicality,” said Tim Macdonald, ACLU of Colorado Legal Director. “What the city calls a technicality, we call the fundamental tenets of our liberty, the Constitution. The Court found that Pueblo’s actions fell far short of their Constitutional obligations.”
Without the charging documents, the Municipal Court lacked jurisdiction over the cases and the convictions were void. The judge ordered all three sentences to be discharged immediately.
The Mayor of Pueblo, Heather Graham, took to Facebook where she expressed she was "saddened" by the decision.
I am saddened that in my city, a criminal who has broken the law more than 20 times receives more empathy than every day law abiding citizens of Pueblo who are plagued day in and day out by criminal acts all over our community. These criminal acts include trespassing, theft, loitering, unwanted party and more yet the criminals receive more favor and outreach from anti-jail advocates rather than acknowledging the reckless behavior affecting every area of Pueblo. Every day, citizens call the Mayor’s Office and ask what is being done to address crime or if we have a plan to assist with recidivism. Then when Municipal Court, the Pueblo Police Department or another arm of the City works within its powers to address these issues, we are met with criticism.
Today Judge Chostner ruled in the ACLU cases v. the City of Pueblo, that these criminals should be released on a technicality because they presumably did not receive a proper citation or notice for their contempt charges on a piece of paper. Yet, these individuals skipped court and failed to appear for years at a time, wasting City time, taxes and resources. When they finally did appear after being arrested again, they were given a verbal advisement, copies of their warrants and were represented by counsel. Then they waived their rights to trial and voluntarily plead to charges. None of that matter[s] though because they did not receive a piece of paper.
Now the ACLU has come to advocate for criminals who plague this City and expects to receive support for their advocacy. Instead, Puebloans should be asking why the ACLU would be complicit with criminal behavior? Why should criminals not be held accountable and be able to continue to reoffend in our city? Does the ACLU not realize that homelessness does not equate to helplessness. Now the greater Pueblo community is left helpless with opinions and rulings like what was given [Friday].
Mayor of Pueblo Heather Graham
In most of Colorado, missing a court date results in a warrant, not a new criminal charge. In Pueblo, when a person misses a court date, non-jailable charges could turn into sentences of months or even years.
Mayor Graham claimed the individuals "skipped court and failed to appear for years at a time, wasting City time, taxes, and resources."
ACLU said Lopez was "unlawfully" detained on a 575-day sentence in the Pueblo County Jail and served 255 days. Martinez, a transgender woman, was jailed at an all-male unit and served 190 days out of her 240-day sentence and Tafoya was sentenced to 315 days. All three individuals were in jail due to missing court dates.
"The ACLU of Colorado will not tolerate the mistreatment of our most vulnerable residents in municipal court," the ACLU wrote. "We will continue to demand that municipalities uphold the civil rights of those who appear before them."
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