A Colorado court says a high-profile election case needs a do-over on punishment, not guilt. The Colorado Court of Appeals on Thursday tossed out the nine-year sentence for former Mesa County elections clerk Tina Peters, ruling that the trial judge improperly relied in part on her political speech when deciding how long she should serve, reports the Denver Post. A three-judge appeals panel ordered Peters, 70, to be resentenced by a district court judge but left her four felony and three misdemeanor convictions intact, according to the 70-page-plus opinion.
Peters was found guilty of attempting to influence public officials and related charges after helping an unauthorized person access secure voting equipment in 2021, amid baseless claims of widespread fraud after the 2020 presidential race. She'd appealed her convictions, as well as how long her prison sentence was; during arguments in January, the appellate judges signaled concern about the severity of the prison term while showing little appetite for overturning the verdicts themselves. Before Thursday's ruling, she was projected to be eligible for parole in November 2028, a timeline that will now shift.
The case has become a political flashpoint. President Trump has repeatedly demanded Peters' release—NBC News notes his latest comments on it came just last month—and even claimed to pardon her in December, though presidents have no authority over state convictions. Colorado officials have pushed back, with state Attorney General Phil Weiser accusing Trump of launching a "revenge campaign" that included canceling more than $700 million in federal money for the state. Weiser didn't mince words about the latest development on the ex-elections official. "Tina Peters will always be a convicted felon who violated her duty as Mesa County clerk, put other lives at risk, and threatened our democracy. Nothing will remove that stain," he noted in a statement, per the AP.
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