Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters was found guilty on seven of the 10 counts against her, but acquitted on three others, including identity theft.
After a trial that lasted more than a week and a half, prosecutors did their best to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Peters, 68, deceived public servants by falsely using the identity of an innocent Fruita resident to make copies of election computers in a failed attempt to prove that something was amiss with the 2020 presidential and 2021 municipal elections.
At one point only a few hours after starting deliberations, the jury asked the court if they could leave some charges blank, or declare them a hung jury, but District Judge Matthew Barrett told them to continue deliberations.
The court did not reveal to what charges the jury was referring. They deliberated for about four hours before reaching their verdict.
Before the verdict was read, five law enforcement officers were present in the courtroom, and Barrett warned everyone not to react as it was read.
Peters’ defense attorneys, too, did their best to show there were plenty of reasonable doubts that Peters deceived public servants by falsely using the identity of a Fruita resident to make copies of Peters’ election computers.
Peters was charged with seven felonies: three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, two counts of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, one count of identity theft and one count of criminal impersonation. She also faced misdemeanor charges for first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failing to comply with requirements of the secretary of state.
“Like a farmer guarding a hen house against a fox or a wolf, he pretty much opened the door and said ‘I’m at your disposal,’” Special Prosecutor Robert Shapiro told the jury during his closing statements.
“She let outsiders come into the secure world that she was supposed to be focusing on,” he added.
“They will come in and do things that they were not supposed to do. She was a willing clerk who was not willing to follow the law.”
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Defense Attorney John Case, however, argued that Peters was being “targeted” for making a single decision: to protect the true identity of the computer expert she used to make those copies, Conan Hayes.
That man, a former professional surfer turned computer expert that prosecutors dubbed a “cyber terrorist,” used an access key card that the county — at Peters’ direction — had issued to Gerald Wood, a self-employed computer technician.
“There was no harm to the computer system, there was no harm to the software, there was no harm to the county,” Case said in his closing. So who was harmed? Tina Peters was harmed because of lies put forth to you by the government.”
Though Case was admonished for using the word “lie,” District Judge Matthew Barrett barred both sides from using that description, Case’s central theme was to pit Peters as someone merely trying to protect election records and government, describing them as a semi-tractor trailer barrelling down the wrong side of the road at a passing car.
Sharpiro and other prosecutors also tried to cut into Peters’ chief witness, unindicted co-conspirator Sherronna Bishop, who was working with Peters since the beginning in April 2021, and introducing her to people who could help, such as Hayes.
Shapiro said her testimony is not corroborated by any other witness or evidence, but was disputed by several prosecution witnesses, including Peters’ former Deputy Belinda Knisley and former Elections Manger Sandra Brown.
Both said that when Peters’ actions came to light, she told them repeatedly that she was going to jail as a result.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser released a statement after the verdict, saying that it sends a message.
“The freedom to vote is sacred in America. Many fought for — and even died for — establishing voting as a fundamental constitutional right. And it’s a right we continue to protect today.
“Today’s verdict is a warning to others that they will face serious consequences if they attempt to illegally tamper with our voting processes or election systems. I want to be clear — our elections are safe and fair. In fact, Colorado’s election system is the gold standard of the nation. And make no mistake: my office will continue to protect it,” he wrote.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold also issued a statement following the verdict.
“Tina Peters willfully compromised her own election equipment trying to prove Trump’s Big Lie. She has been found guilty by a jury of her peers and will now face the consequences of her actions,” she wrote. “Today’s verdict sends a clear message: we will not tolerate any effort to threaten the security of our gold standard elections. I am proud that justice for Colorado voters has been served today.”
Peters will be sentenced on Oct. 3 at 9:30 a.m.
