Peo v. Marceleno

── Peo v. Marceleno ── Court: Colorado Court of Appeals Date: May 07, 2026 Category: General 24CA0212 Peo v Marceleno 05-07-2026 COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS Court of Appeals No. 24CA0212 Weld County District Court No. 22CR293 Honorable Timothy Kerns, Judge The People of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Danny Marceleno, Defendant-Appellant. JUDGMENT AFFIRMED Division VI Opinion by JUDGE YUN Grove and Schock, JJ., concur NOT PUBLISHED PURSUANT TO C.A.R. 35(e) Announced May 7, 2026 Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General, Sonia Raichur Russo, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee Patrick R. Henson, Alternate Defense Counsel, Chelsea A. Carr, Alternate Defense Counsel, Denver, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant ¶1 Danny Marceleno appeals the judgment of conviction entered after a jury found him guilty of vehicular eluding, criminal mischief, and two counts of reckless endangerment. He contends the district court erred by denying his motion to suppress, arguing that his Miranda waiver was invalid and his subsequent statements were involuntary. We disagree and affirm. I. Background ¶2 Early one morning, while running license plates in a truck stop parking lot in search of stolen vehicles, Deputy Justin Napolitano and Deputy Steven Fay found Marceleno and his girlfriend asleep inside a car that had been reported stolen, with narcotics strewn across the front seats. Before attempting to arrest Marceleno, the deputies positioned their patrol cars at the front and rear of the stolen car to block any escape route. The entire interaction between the deputies and Marceleno was captured on body camera footage. ¶3 The deputies then approached from the driver’s side and ordered the couple to exit the vehicle. Upon waking, Marceleno maneuvered the car through a narrow gap near the front patrol car — striking two vehicles and nearly hitting both deputies — and 1  sped out of the parking lot. A high-speed chase ensued for over ten minutes. The pursuit ended when Marceleno crashed through a community gate blocking his path. ¶4 Ten minutes later, the deputies detained Marceleno in the back of a patrol car. When Deputy Napolitano first approached Marceleno, he asked whether Marceleno was okay, and Marceleno responded, “Yeah.” Asked whether he needed an ambulance, Marceleno, with his eyes closed, replied, “No, I’m good.” He stated that he had not taken more opioids than usual and had not hit his head, but Deputy Napolitano called for emergency medical services anyway. ¶5 Deputy Napolitano then introduced himself and asked for basic identifying information. Despite his eyes being intermittently closed, Marceleno responded accurately and corrected Deputy Napolitano when he misspelled Marceleno’s name. After confirming that Marceleno had general familiarity with Miranda rights, Deputy Napolitano read him those rights, pausing after each one to ask whether Marceleno understood. Marceleno confirmed that he understood each right. Deputy Napolitano then asked if Marceleno, 2  understanding these rights, still wanted to talk to him. Marceleno agreed, saying, “Yeah, it don’t matter to me, man.” ¶6 After the Miranda waiver, Deputy Napolitano told Marceleno he had nearly run him over. Marceleno apologized — attributing his actions to being startled — and then apologized again unprompted. Marceleno then admitted that he had outstanding arrest warrants, was on parole, and had fentanyl in the car for personal use. When the paramedics arrived, Deputy Napolitano paused the interview to allow them to examine Marceleno. ¶7 After paramedics examined Marceleno, concluding, “[He’s] with it and knows where he’s at and what’s going on,” Deputy Napol