Phillips v. People

Citations

• 2019 CO 72
• 443 P.3d 1016

Syllabus

In a pretrial motion, defendant sought to suppress his statements at a police station and the handgun recovered during a search of his car. The trial court denied both requests and, following a conviction, defendant appealed the two rulings. However, on appeal, defendant raised a new argument with respect to each evidentiary item. A division of the Court of Appeals denied him relief, ruling that he had waived the right to advance the unpreserved contentions. The Supreme Court agreed with the division that the claims were not preserved. But it determined that no waiver occurred. Instead, relying on People v. Rediger, 2018 CO 32, 416 P.3d 893, it held that the claims were forfeited and are thus subject to plain error review. Upon undertaking such review, the Court concluded that the trial court did not err in admitting the police-station statements and that the record does not establish that the admission of the gun was plain error. The Court of Appeals' judgment was affirmed.