Peo v. Garcia

── Peo v. Garcia ── Court: Colorado Court of Appeals Date: May 07, 2026 Category: General 23CA1571 Peo v Garcia 05-07-2026 COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS Court of Appeals No. 23CA1571 Jefferson County District Court No. 22CR2923 Honorable Christopher B. Rhamey, Judge The People of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Gemini Elijah Garcia, Defendant-Appellant. JUDGMENT REVERSED AND CASE REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS Division V Opinion by JUDGE LIPINSKY Welling and Tow, JJ., concur NOT PUBLISHED PURSUANT TO C.A.R. 35(e) Announced May 7, 2026 Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General, Allison S. Block, Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee Megan A. Ring, Colorado State Public Defender, Robin Rheiner, Deputy State Public Defender, Denver, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant ¶1 Gemini Elijah Garcia appeals his convictions for second degree murder (felony murder) and five counts of aggravated robbery, as well as two crime of violence sentence enhancers attendant to the aggravated robbery convictions. We reverse his convictions and remand for a new trial. I. Background ¶2 The jury could have reasonably found the following facts from the evidence introduced at trial. Jessie Vargas-Vigil arranged to buy marijuana from the victim in the parking lot outside Vargas-Vigil’s apartment building. On October 12, 2022, Garcia met Vargas-Vigil and Vargas-Vigil’s brother at Vargas-Vigil’s apartment. Vargas-Vigil and Garcia — who was carrying an empty bag — left the apartment, walked to the parking lot, and approached the victim, who was seated in a truck. ¶3 Although the evidence conflicted, Garcia and the People agree that Vargas-Vigil entered the passenger side of the truck while Garcia stood outside the driver’s side door. A gunshot was fired. After Vargas-Vigil, who appeared to be holding a gun, took items from the victim, he and Garcia ran from the truck. While running, Vargas-Vigil dropped a clear plastic bag containing a “green leafy 1  substance.” He yelled to Garcia to pick it up. Garcia did so, and the two men ran into Vargas-Vigil’s apartment. They left the apartment with Vargas-Vigil’s brother, who drove off with them. No direct evidence established that Garcia was armed on the day of the robbery. No witness testified, and no photo showed, that Garcia possessed a gun that day. ¶4 The victim was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The cause of death was determined to be a gunshot to the head. Six days later, police officers arrested Garcia during an unrelated traffic stop. Police searched Garcia incident to the arrest and found a gun and ammunition in his possession. ¶5 Garcia was charged with one count of second degree murder (felony murder) (count 1) and five counts of aggravated robbery (counts 2 through 6). At trial, he denied that he had robbed the victim and presented a disengagement affirmative defense to the felony murder charge. ¶6 The jury convicted him of all counts. The trial court merged the aggravated robbery counts into the felony murder count, characterizing the former counts as “predicate offenses to [felony murder], and lesser included offenses.” See § 18-1-408, C.R.S. 2  2025. The trial court applied two sentence enhancers, see § 18-1.3-406(2)(a)(I)(A)-(B), C.R.S. 2025, and sentenced Garcia to forty-four years in the custody of the Department of Corrections. ¶7 On appeal, Garcia contends that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of the charged offenses; the trial court abused its discretion by admitting propensity evidence establishing that, because Garcia had guns before and after the robbery, he was more likely to have been armed during the robbery; and the trial