The Colorado Court of Appeals denied Tina Peters’ request for bond pending appeal on February 18. Both dismissals came without prejudice — leaving the district court door open.
Peters, 70, is serving a nine-year sentence at La Vista Correctional Facility in Pueblo after her August 2024 conviction on seven counts related to a 2021 breach of Mesa County’s election equipment. Her attorneys filed a bond petition on January 30, citing five alleged assaults in custody and arguing the trial judge denied bond based on her public statements about election systems.
The three-judge panel — Welling, Tow, and Lipinsky — never reached the merits. Peters filed the petition more than 480 days after the district court’s October 3, 2024 bond denial. The statutory deadline under C.A.R. 4(b) is 49 days. A separate 35-day extension for excusable neglect had also long expired.
Her attorneys argued they had pursued bond through other channels — a November 2024 motion in the appeals court and a February 2025 federal habeas petition. The court called that pattern “a strategic decision to forgo timely review,” not good cause.
Peters also cited People v. Jenkins, a November 2025 ruling that established the filing deadline. The court acknowledged she may not have known the timeline before Jenkins but noted she waited another 65 days after that decision, with no explanation for the delay.
The court denied Peters’ request to remove District Judge Matthew Barrett from the case, calling it “conclusory” and noting she had never raised the issue at the district court level.
On bond, the court stated it was “not evident” that the October 2024 motion bars a new filing under section 16-4-201. It directed Peters toward the district court for any changed-circumstances argument, citing its own role as “a court of review, not first view.” The Barrett removal request was likewise denied without prejudice to raising it there first.
The same panel is still weighing Peters’ appeal of her convictions. Governor Polis has said he is reviewing clemency applications and considers her sentence “on the harsh side.”
Source: Colorado Court of Appeals Order, People v. Peters, Case No. 2024CA1951, February 18, 2026.
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