Colorado court throws out election denier Tina Peters' 9-year sentence for tampering with election equipment(1/2)
The state appeals court is asking the trial court to resentence Peters.
April 2, 2026, 11:45 AM EDT /
The Colorado Court of Appeals has thrown out election denier Tina Peters' nine-year prison sentence,finding that the lower court violated her First Amendment right to free speech related to her allegations of election fraud.
“The trial court’scomments about Peters’s belief in the existence of 2020 election fraud went beyond relevant considerations for her sentencing,” a three-judge panel wrote in a 77-page opinion that also upheld her conviction on charges including official misconduct in connection with a security breach of Mesa County’s voting system.
“Her offense was not her belief, however misguided the trial court deemed it to be, in the existence of such election fraud; it was her deceitful actions in her attempt to gather evidence of such fraud. Indeed, under these circumstances, just as her purported beliefs underlying her motive for her actions were not relevant to her defense, the trial court should not have considered those beliefs relevant when imposing sentence.”
The judges wrote that it was “apparent” the lower court imposed the sentence it did because Peters continued to espouse election denying views.
“The tenor of the court’s comments makes clear that it felt the sentence length was necessary, at least in part, to prevent her from continuing to espouse views the court deemed 'damaging.'
“But the court failed to acknowledge that Peters is no longer the Mesa County Clerk and Recorder," they continued.
"She is no longer in a position to engage in the conduct that led to her conviction. So itcannot be said that the lengthy prison sentence was for specific deterrence. To the contrary, the sentence punished Peters for her persistence in espousing her beliefs regarding the integrity of the 2020 election."
The state appeals courtdirected the trial court judge, Matthew Branch, to resentence Peters without consideration of her comments on the 2020 election.
Peters was convicted of four felony and three misdemeanor charges in August of 2024 for using another person’s security badge to allow someone associated with MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, a prominent election denier and ally of President Donald Trump, access to county election equipment involving Dominion Voting Systems.
The county’s machines had to be replaced afterwards when data, including passwords for the machines, was posted online. Peters claimed she didn’t know the information would become public.
Her lengthy prison sentence had repeatedly been criticized by President Donald Trump, who issued a pardon for her, even though she was convicted of state, not federal crimes. Trump as recently as March 18 called for Peters to be “free.”
The appeals court judges found the pardon “has no impact on Peters’s state law offenses.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/colorado-court-throws-election-denier-tina-peters-sentence-trump-rcna266421