DENVER — The Colorado Court of Appeals threw out the nine-year sentence for discredited elections clerk Tina Peters on Thursday and ordered that she be re-sentenced by a district court judge.

The panel of three judges found that Mesa County District Court Judge Matthew Barrett wrongly based part of the original sentence on Peters’ exercise of her right to free speech, according to a 78-page opinion released Thursday.

The court upheld her convictions and rejected an effort by President Donald Trump to pardon his political ally, despite the president’s fixation on freeing her and his ongoing pressure campaign against Colorado.

“Notwithstanding the fact that some of the trial court’s considerations were tied to proper sentencing considerations, when the court’s comments are viewed in their totality, it is apparent that the court imposed the lengthy sentence it did because Peters continued to espouse the views that led her to commit these crimes,” the opinion reads.

“The tenor of the court’s comments makes clear that it felt the sentence length was necessary, at least in part, to prevent her from continuing to espouse views the court deemed ‘damaging.’ … The sentence punished Peters for her persistence in espousing her beliefs regarding the integrity of the 2020 election.”

The panel of judges found that there was sufficient evidence to convict Peters of her crimes, that Peters was not immune to state prosecution, that a purported presidential pardon carried no authority, and that a prosecutor’s characterization of the case during closing arguments did not impact the verdict.

“The evidence of her knowledge of the illegality of her conduct is so overwhelming, we simply cannot say that the prosecutor’s statement (even if improper) had any impact on the verdict, let alone an impact so great as to cause serious doubt about the reliability of the judgment of conviction,” the panel concluded.

The judges also upheld a felony conviction for conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation even though the charge was presented to the jury with language characterizing it as a misdemeanor, finding that the charge was correctly described in a charging document and mittimus. They denied Peters’ request that her case be resentenced by a new district court judge, finding that she needed to raise that issue in the lower court.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement Thursday that Peters’ original sentence was “fair and appropriate.”

“Whatever happens with her sentence, Tina Peters will always be a convicted felon who violated her duty as Mesa County clerk, put other lives at risk and threatened our democracy,” Weiser said. “Nothing will remove that stain.”

Mesa County jurors convicted Peters, 70, of four felony and three misdemeanor crimes after she orchestrated a plot to sneak an unauthorized member of the public into a secure area to examine voting equipment amid unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

She appealed both her convictions and the length of her prison sentence in a wide-ranging case that went before the Colorado Court of Appeals in January.

Peters’ case has drawn significant attention from Trump, who has repeatedly called for the former clerk’s release and, in December, claimed to pardon her — a power he does not have over state-level criminal convictions. The Colorado Court of Appeals confirmed that the purported pardon was without merit in its ruling Thursday, noting that its ruling matched with “every other appellate court that has addressed the issue.”

Colorado officials have resisted the president’s demands, prompting Trump to mount what Attorney General Phil Weiser described as a “revenge campaign” against the state, including canceling more than $700 million in federal funds earmarked for Colorado.

Gov. Jared Polis signaled earlier this year that he was willing to reduce Peters’ sentence through clemency, a unique power of the governor’s office.

After his comments drew criticism from Democratic lawmakers and other elected officials, Polis said he would not take action until after the Court of Appeals issued its decision. He suggested Peters should show remorse for her crimes. Peters has remained largely defiant, though after Polis’ comments, her attorney, John Case, noted that “anyone has second thoughts about what they’ve done.”

Polis’ office did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Thursday morning, nor did Dan Rubinstein, the Mesa County district attorney who prosecuted Peters. Messages to Peters’ legal team were also not immediately returned.

Democratic lawmakers across the state urged Polis not to reduce Peters’ sentence, arguing that doing so would embolden election conspiracy theorists and undermine the justice system. House Speaker Julie McCluskie said Thursday morning that she needed to review the ruling.

“I think the members of the General Assembly have made their position clear about any action that the governor would take,” she said.

Secretary of State Gena Griswold said in a statement Thursday that she was glad to see the Court of Appeals reject Trump’s attempted pardon.

“Peters will continue to face accountability for coordinating a breach of her own election equipment,” Griswold said. “Her actions have been repeatedly used to spread conspiracy theories, amplify falsehoods, and fuel dangerous election lies. Peters should not receive any special treatment as the district court considers re-sentencing.”

Peters was originally sentenced in October 2024 to serve three-and-a-half years on two counts of attempting to influence a public official and another three-and-a-half years on a third count of attempting to influence a public official.

She received an additional 15 months for conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation — the charge mistakenly presented as a misdemeanor — and another six months for violation of duty and failure to comply with the requirements of the secretary of state, according to a filing from the attorney general’s office.

Before Thursday’s decision, Peters was set to be eligible for parole in November 2028, according to the Colorado Department of Corrections. That date will now change.

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