This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at cpr.org.
Tina Peters’ fight against her 2024 conviction must first play out in state courts, before a federal court can even consider that she be released on bail, a federal magistrate ruled Monday.
The former Republican Mesa County clerk, Peters, is serving a nine-year sentence in a state women’s prison in Pueblo on charges relating to allowing unauthorized access to Mesa County’s Dominion voting machines while she was serving as the county clerk. She asked a federal court to release her on bond, arguing that errors at the state court level meant she should be released while she appeals her state conviction.
Peters said the state court failed to consider the federal records preservation act, the supremacy clause, and also violated the First Amendment when the state judge said she could not be released on bond because she was a danger to the community.
But in a 12-page ruling, federal court Magistrate Judge Scott Varholak said state proceedings must play out before a federal court can consider the request.
“Because Ms. Peters’ appeal remains pending in state court, where she argues that the trial court violated her First Amendment rights by punishing her based upon her speech, any First Amendment error can be corrected through the state appeal,” Varholak said.
The judge said Peters’ attorneys failed to make the case that her case warranted federal intervention ahead of allowing the state case to be resolved. Such exceptions are rare. Still, Varholak did note Peter's First Amendment argument “raises important Constitutional questions.”
“Without question, Ms. Peters raises important Constitutional questions concerning whether the trial court improperly punished her more severely because of her protected First Amendment speech,” Varholak wrote.
