Divided Appeals Court Upholds Convictions
A Colorado court has upheld a man's convictions for unlawful possession of a firearm, despite acknowledging potentially unfair contradictory police testimony.
Matthew Torres attempted to exclude evidence of a handgun found in his waistband, arguing that police 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.
A trial judge initially found that police had reasonable suspicion to stop Torres, based on pretrial testimony from an officer who claimed to have seen a gun on Torres before he was seized.
Case Summary
- Matthew Torres was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm.
- Torres argued that police stopped and frisked him in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
- A trial judge found that police had reasonable suspicion to stop Torres.
Author's summary: Court upholds convictions despite contradictory police testimony.