Colorado’s second-highest court last week sided against Weld County prosecutors and agreed a trial judge correctly determined the consequence of his failure to declare a COVID-19-related mistrial was to dismiss the criminal charges against a defendant.

The federal and state constitutions guarantee defendants the right to a speedy trial. In Colorado, that means the government must bring defendants to trial within six months of a not guilty plea. The legislature has provided one consequence for a violation: dismissal of the charges, with a bar against any future prosecution.

In August 2021, Thomas J. Early pleaded not guilty to alleged sex offenses and his speedy trial deadline was Feb. 12, 2022. On Jan. 19, the chief judge in Weld County temporarily halted jury trials due to increased COVID-19 positivity rates.

That same day, Early and the prosecution appeared before District Court Judge Shannon D. Lyons. The judge acknowledged the suspension of trials, then reset Early’s trial date to late March. After Feb. 12, the defense moved to dismiss the charges, noting Lyons had never declared a mistrial and so the government had violated Early’s speedy trial right under Colorado law.

Lyons agreed and terminated the case.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Colorado Supreme Court enacted a rule that permitted trial judges to declare mistrials if jury pools could not safely be called during a public health crisis. A mistrial would effectively provide extra time toward the calculation of the speedy trial date.

However, in 2021 the Supreme Court clarified that if judges declare a mistrial under the rule, they must “explicitly do so.“

The Weld County District Attorney’s Office argued to the Court of Appeals that Lyons did not need to specifically use the word “mistrial” when he rescheduled Early’s trial date outside the deadline.

“In the case at hand, Judge Lyons was clearly declaring a mistrial in fact as evidenced by the circumstances and other statements made,” wrote Deputy District Attorney Arynn E. Clark.

A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals disagreed.

“Despite issuing two written orders, the court never indicated that it had declared a mistrial in fact – i.e., that its intention was to declare a mistrial,” wrote Judge Elizabeth L. Harris in the March 30 opinion. “As a result, Early’s right to a speedy trial was violated, and dismissal of the charges was mandatory.”

The case is People v. Cox.