The state’s Court of Appeals has reversed another criminal conviction in Adams County because the trial judge attempted to illustrate the concept of reasonable doubt to jurors in a manner the Colorado Supreme Court has since deemed problematic.

Jurors convicted Brett Thomas Little in 2019 on one count of criminal mischief after he allegedly broke a television worth approximately $1,400 during an argument. In her comments to the jury pool, then-District Court Judge Tomee Crespin analogized reasonable doubt to the crack in the foundation of a “dream home.” The lesson was that reasonable doubt was like “foundational issues” in a home purchase, in which the buyer bows out once they have reasonable doubt.

Although the Court of Appeals previously upheld Little’s conviction in December 2021, one month later the Supreme Court issued its decision in Tibbels v. People, which drew the line on reasonable doubt analogies that improperly lower the burden of proof required for prosecutors to convict a defendant.

In Tibbels, another judge – also in Adams County – used the same crack-in-the-foundation analogy. The Supreme Court noted the illustration actually made it seem as if the jury should begin with the assumption the defendant is guilty, and only acquit if there is a “foundational crack” in the case giving rise to reasonable doubt. In reality, a defendant is innocent until proven guilty.

The Supreme Court then returned several cases on appeal to the Court of Appeals for reevaluation. Since then, the appellate court has reversed nearly a half-dozen convictions out of Adams County, overwhelmingly the jurisdiction with the biggest problem of faulty analogies.

On Sept. 29, Little’s case became the most recent reversal, after the Court of Appeals conceded Crespin’s reasonable doubt illustration was nearly identical to the erroneous analogy in Tibbels.

“But we adhere to our prior conclusion that the evidence was sufficient to support Little’s conviction,” added Judge Jerry N. Jones in the court’s opinion. Prosecutors “may therefore retry Little on the criminal mischief charge should they so choose.”

In July, after appellate courts reversed a conviction in Adams County for the fourth time this year, Chief Judge Don Quick told Colorado Politics the trial judges have discussed the Supreme Court’s directive and are now complying.

The case is People v. Little.