People v. J.P.

── People v. J.P. ── Court: Colorado Court of Appeals Date: May 28, 2026 Category: General The summaries of the Colorado Court of Appeals published opinions constitute no part of the opinion of the division but have been prepared by the division for the convenience of the reader. The summaries may not be cited or relied upon as they are not the official language of the division. Any discrepancy between the language in the summary and in the opinion should be resolved in favor of the language in the opinion. SUMMARY May 28, 2026 2026 COA 41 No. 24CA2067, People v. J.P. — Public Records — Sealing Criminal Justice Records Other than Convictions; Trials — Verdicts and Findings — Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity A court shall order a defendant’s criminal justice records sealed when the defendant is “acquitted of all counts in the case.” § 24-72-705(1)(a)(II), C.R.S. 2025. A division of the court of appeals holds that a defendant who is found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) is eligible for record sealing under the statute because an NGRI judgment operates as an acquittal of the charged offenses. Accordingly, the division reverses the district court’s orders denying the defendant’s requests to seal his criminal justice records and remands the case to the district court to seal his records. COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS 2026 COA 41 Court of Appeals No. 24CA2067 El Paso County District Court Nos. 02CR5134, 03CR26 & 03CR46 Honorable Robin Chittum, Judge The People of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. J.P., Defendant-Appellant. ORDERS REVERSED AND CASE REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS Division III Opinion by JUDGE DUNN Harris and Moultrie, JJ., concur Announced May 28, 2026 Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General, Marixa Frias, Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee J.P., Pro Se ¶1 A court shall order a defendant’s criminal justice records sealed when the defendant is “acquitted of all counts in the case.” § 24-72-705(1)(a)(II), C.R.S. 2025. The question in this case is whether defendant, J.P., who was found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) in three criminal cases, is eligible to have his criminal justice records sealed. ¶2 Because an NGRI judgment operates as an acquittal of the charged offenses, we answer yes to that question. We therefore reverse the district court’s orders denying J.P.’s requests to seal his criminal justice records and remand the case to the district court to seal his records. I. Background ¶3 In the early aughts, the People charged J.P. with multiple crimes in three separate cases in El Paso County, Colorado (Case Nos. 02CR5134, 03CR26, and 03CR46). After a bench trial, the court found J.P. NGRI in all three cases. The court committed J.P. to the department of human services for care and psychiatric treatment. 1 ¶4 During his commitment, J.P. pleaded guilty to second degree murder and aggravated robbery in connection with a cold case homicide. The court sentenced him to sixty years in prison. ¶5 In April 2021, a psychiatrist at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo opined that it was appropriate for J.P. to be unconditionally released to serve his prison sentence. The district court then unconditionally released J.P. from commitment. ¶6 Three years later, J.P. filed motions in his three El Paso County cases to seal his criminal records under section 24-72-705.1 He asserted that because the charges in each case “ended in acquittal” and a “finding of not guilty,” his records were eligible for sealing. ¶7 The district cou