Peo v. Starr

Colo. Ct. App.4/3/2025
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Full Opinion

22CA1870 Peo v Starr 04-03-2025

COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS


Court of Appeals No. 22CA1870
El Paso County District Court No. 21CR4943
Honorable Frances R. Johnson, Judge


The People of the State of Colorado,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

Joshua Thomas Starr,

Defendant-Appellant.


                       JUDGMENT REVERSED AND CASE
                        REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS

                                  Division VII
                         Opinion by JUDGE JOHNSON
                       Lipinsky and Moultrie, JJ., concur

                 NOT PUBLISHED PURSUANT TO C.A.R. 35(e)
                         Announced April 3, 2025


Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General, Jessica E. Ross, Senior Assistant Attorney
General & Assistant Solicitor General, Jacey DeHoyos, Assistant Attorney
General, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee

Megan A. Ring, Colorado State Public Defender, Leah Scaduto, Deputy State
Public Defender, Denver, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant
¶1    Defendant, Joshua Thomas Starr (Starr), appeals his

 judgment of conviction entered on jury verdicts finding him guilty of

 two counts of second degree assault (strangulation / substantial

 bodily injury), third degree assault, and harassment.

¶2    On appeal, Starr contends that his convictions should be

 reversed because the district court erred by (1) admitting the

 victim’s statements to two people in violation of CRE 803(3) and

 803(4); (2) admitting the victim’s statements to medical staff in

 violation of his Confrontation Clause rights; (3) failing to provide the

 jury with his self-induced intoxication instruction; and (4) allowing

 the prosecutor to engage in misconduct. He also alleges cumulative

 error.

¶3    We conclude that the district court erred by admitting, under

 the medical diagnosis and treatment exception to the hearsay rule,

 CRE 803(4), the victim’s statement to a forensic nurse examiner

 (also known as a sexual assault nurse examiner or SANE)

 identifying her assailant by name. And we conclude that the

 district court’s admission of the victim’s statement was not

 harmless.




                                    1
¶4    Because Starr’s other contentions are unlikely to arise in the

 same manner on remand, if they arise at all, we need not address

 them. Accordingly, we reverse Starr’s judgment of conviction and

 remand the case to the district court for a new trial.

                           I.    Background

¶5    One night around midnight, Julius Watson (Watson) was

 walking home after work when he saw the victim, R.F., crying on

 the sidewalk. R.F.’s face was swollen, and she had blood on her

 cheek and neck. She asked Watson if she could use his cellphone.

 Watson asked her if she was okay. R.F. told Watson that her

 boyfriend “beat her up.” Watson then helped R.F. to his apartment

 to call the police.

¶6    Officer Cindy Schneider (Officer Schneider) from the Manitou

 Police Department was the primary investigator of the assault.

 Officer Levi Hoover (Officer Hoover) accompanied Officer Schneider

 and assisted with the investigation. At trial, Officer Hoover testified

 that he had learned through Officer Schneider that R.F. and the

 suspect lived a few blocks away from where Watson had

 encountered R.F. R.F. went to a hospital.




                                    2
¶7    At the hospital, several medical professionals spoke with R.F.,

 but most relevant to Starr’s appeal, she was treated by physician

 assistant Aaron Constantino (Constantino) and a SANE, Erin

 Ropelewski (Ropelewski). R.F. reported to Ropelewski that her

 boyfriend had strangled her and punched her in the face; and told

 her, “I want to die, and if I die, you are going to die with me.”

 Ropelewski testified at trial that R.F.’s face was swollen, she had

 bruising and red marks all around her body, and she had a

 fractured rib.

¶8    In the meantime, Officers Schneider and Hoover attempted to

 contact R.F.’s boyfriend at the address R.F. had provided. They

 knocked on the apartment door several times, but no one answered.

 Office Schneider went to the hospital to obtain a better statement

 from R.F. Later in the early morning, Officer Schneider or dispatch

 had learned from R.F. (and possibly from R.F.’s mother) that R.F.’s

 boyfriend was at the apartment they had visited earlier. The

 officers returned there.

¶9    At the apartment, they discovered significant blood splatter on

 the carpet and staircase leading to the apartment door and blood

 throughout the apartment, including on the back of the front door


                                    3
  and a living room couch. While inside, the officers found a man,

  who turned out to be Starr, with scratches all over his arms and

  blood on his hands and shorts. The officers took photos of the

  apartment and Starr. Starr made statements to the officers.

¶ 10   The prosecution charged Starr with two counts of second

  degree assault, third degree assault, and harassment, each as an

  act of domestic violence. Before trial, the court granted Starr’s

  motion to suppress his statements to the officers, reasoning that

  the officers had improperly interrogated him while he was in

  custody without advising him of his rights under Miranda v.

  Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966).

¶ 11   Neither R.F. nor Officer Schneider appeared at trial. Because

  R.F. was not present at trial, the prosecution sought to prove the

  facts underlying R.F.’s assault through Watson, Officer Hoover,

  Ropelewski, Constantino, and R.F.’s medical records. Although

  Officer Hoover described his observations at the apartment and

  Starr’s demeanor at the time, none of Starr’s statements, including

  Starr identifying himself to the officers, were admitted due to the

  court’s suppression ruling.




                                    4
¶ 12   The prosecution attempted to prove that Starr was R.F.’s

  assailant through Ropelewski’s testimony and R.F.’s medical

  records. The court admitted most of the medical records, identified

  as Exhibit 39. Even though the parties agreed that certain parts of

  the medical records needed to be redacted before they were

  admitted into evidence, the redaction did not occur.

¶ 13   The jury convicted Starr as charged. The district court

  sentenced him to twenty-four months of probation.

                       II.        CRE 803(4) Objections

¶ 14   Starr asserts that Ropelewski’s and Constantino’s testimony

  and R.F.’s medical records were inadmissible hearsay, as they did

  not fall within the medical diagnosis exception to hearsay, CRE

  803(4).

                             A.     Additional Facts

¶ 15   At the hospital, Ropelewski performed a sexual assault

  examination on R.F., which included, among other things, R.F.’s

  statement of the events resulting in her injuries and visit to the

  hospital; a consent form signed by R.F. giving Ropelewski

  permission to report the incident to law enforcement; various




                                         5
  assessments, such as danger, safety, and fall-risk assessments;

  and a psychosocial report.

¶ 16   During Constantino’s and Ropelewski’s testimony, but mostly

  the latter, the court admitted over the objections of defense counsel

  statements R.F. made to Ropelewski, as documented in the medical

  records. The testimony, to which defense counsel objected,

  included the following information:

       • the date, time, and location of the assault;

       • the name of R.F.’s assailant and his relationship to her;

       • R.F.’s signature authorizing information to be released to

          law enforcement;

       • R.F.’s home situation, as found on the psychosocial report;

       • R.F.’s relationship with Starr and Starr’s alcohol use;

       • a verbatim narrative detailing R.F.’s allegations of what

          occurred before and during the assault and her allegation

          that Starr was under the influence of drugs at the time;

       • R.F.’s references, repeated throughout the medical records,

          that her boyfriend physically “assaulted” and “strangled”

          her;




                                    6
       • her statements given as part of the danger assessment,

         which also included the medical professionals’ evaluation of

         the likelihood that Starr would kill R.F.;

       • R.F.’s statements expressing her feelings of safety in the

         home, which included her fear of Starr;

       • her description of the manner in which she was strangled,

         the pressure applied, the number of times she was

         strangled, and her reported symptoms;

       • the statements that R.F. made about her symptoms to the

         initial providers while describing the assault; and

       • her statement that she had not fallen in the last three

         months.

¶ 17   Defense counsel further objected to Constantino’s testimony

  regarding such information as

       • the medical professionals’ certification that R.F. had

         suffered a serious bodily injury, as documented in Exhibit

         40; and

       • R.F.’s statements that she was “assaulted by her boyfriend,”

         she was “struck multiple times about the face and also

         experienced a strangulation injury although she does not

                                    7
          believe she lost consciousness,” and she was experiencing

          “facial pain and swelling.”

¶ 18   In overruling most of the objections, the district court applied

  People v. Allee, 77 P.3d 831, 834 (Colo. App. 2003), finding that the

  prosecution had laid a sufficient foundation for admission of the

  statements under the medical diagnosis and treatment exception to

  the hearsay rule. The court found that (1) R.F.’s motives for making

  the statements were to promote medical treatment and diagnosis;

  and (2) the medical professionals reasonably relied on her

  statements in diagnosing R.F. and treating her. The court,

  however, sustained Starr’s objections to the testimony about the

  danger assessment and safety screenings, and in response, the

  prosecutor agreed to redact those portions of Exhibit 39. But based

  on our review of the record, that exhibit was not redacted.

              B.    Standard of Review and Applicable Law

¶ 19   We review the district court’s evidentiary decisions for abuse of

  discretion. See People v. Gonzales–Quevedo, 203 P.3d 609, 612

  (Colo. App. 2008).

¶ 20   “Hearsay” is defined as “a statement other than one made by

  the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in


                                     8
  evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted.” CRE 801(c).

  Such statements are presumptively unreliable because the

  declarant is not present to explain the statement in context and to

  be cross-examined. Blecha v. People, 962 P.2d 931, 937 (Colo.

  1998). Due to their presumptive unreliability, hearsay statements

  generally are not admissible. Id.; see CRE 802. But a statement is

  not hearsay if it is not offered for the truth of the matter asserted.

  See People v. Cohen, 2019 COA 38, ¶ 12.

¶ 21   A hearsay statement may still be admitted, however, if it falls

  within a hearsay exception. See People v. Blecha, 940 P.2d 1070,

  1074 (Colo. App. 1996), aff’d, 962 P.2d 931 (Colo. 1998). “The

  burden of establishing the preliminary facts to establish the

  hearsay exception is on the proponent of the evidence.” People v.

  Garcia, 826 P.2d 1259, 1264 (Colo. 1992).

¶ 22   A hearsay statement is admissible under CRE 803(4) if it is

  “made for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment and

  describ[es] medical history, or past or present symptoms, pain, or

  sensations, or the inception or general character of the cause or

  external source thereof insofar as reasonably pertinent to diagnosis

  or treatment.” CRE 803(4); see also Kelly v. Haralampopoulos, 2014


                                     9
  CO 46, ¶ 20; People v. Tyme, 2013 COA 59, ¶ 16; King v. People,

  785 P.2d, 596, 600 (Colo. 1990). The rule’s rationale is that

  statements made to a physician or medical professional are

  presumptively reliable because the patient believes that the

  “effectiveness of the treatment . . . may depend largely upon the

  accuracy of the information provided to the physician.” People v.

  Jaramillo, 183 P.3d 665, 669 (Colo. App. 2008); W.C.L. v. People,

  685 P.2d 176, 181 (Colo. 1984); People v. Galloway, 726 P.2d 249,

  252 (Colo. App. 1986).

              C.   Medical Diagnosis/Treatment - Identity

¶ 23   Starr makes six arguments in support of his contention that

  the court erred by admitting the medical professionals’ testimony

  and the medical records: (1) the court did not parse out R.F.’s

  statements but rather admitted the medical records wholesale,

  except, as mentioned above, the danger and safety screenings; (2)

  many of R.F.’s statements to Ropelewski, especially the narrative

  about the assault, were not “necessary” for Ropelewski to treat R.F.,

  as R.F. had already discussed her injuries with other medical

  professionals; (3) R.F. did not identify her assailant for a medical

  purpose and, thus, the identification was unnecessary for the


                                    10
  medical professionals to diagnose and treat her; (4) R.F.’s consent

  to disclosure of the medical records and Officer Schneider’s

  presence at the hospital, and possibly in the room during the exam,

  made R.F.’s statements more investigatory than for medical

  purposes; (5) R.F.’s statements about her injuries for the

  strangulation exam were unnecessary because imaging and

  diagnosis of R.F.’s injuries were underway before Ropelewski’s

  exam; and (6) the medical records were replete with R.F.’s

  statements made to other medical professionals.

¶ 24   We agree with Starr on his third contention — the identity of

  R.F.’s assailant was unnecessary for medical diagnosis and

  treatment and, therefore, was inadmissible hearsay under CRE

  803(4). We also conclude that the error was not harmless and,

  thus, we reverse his judgment of conviction.

¶ 25   Like the district court, the Attorney General relies on Allee, 77

  P.3d at 834, to argue that the assailant’s identity has a medical

  purpose because it assists with determining whether the victim

  might need resources. The Attorney General further argues that,

  unlike in Allee, the record shows that R.F. was provided with a

  packet of domestic violence resources at the hospital.


                                    11
¶ 26   Allee held that the identity of a victim’s assailant generally

  does not serve a medical purpose. But the division recognized that

  an exception exists if a “portion of the statement is itself perceived

  by the medical provider as necessary for diagnosis and treatment.”

  Id. The division determined that the record in that case did not

  “indicate that the identification of defendant as the victim’s

  assailant was necessary for or pertinent to the physician’s diagnosis

  or treatment or that he made any referral to domestic abuse

  resources or took any other action based on that identification.” Id.

  Even though the division concluded in Allee that the court erred, it

  also determined that the error was harmless. This was because the

  physician’s identification of the assailant was cumulative of

  testimony given by the investigating officers, whose testimony the

  defendant had not challenged. Id. at 835; see also Jaramillo, 183

  P.3d at 669 (holding that, while testimony of the victim’s identity of

  her assailant through the nurse practitioner was error, it was

  harmless because it was cumulative of testimony provided by the

  victim and the investigating officer’s testimony).

¶ 27   Like the divisions in Allee and Jaramillo, we agree that

  identification of the victim’s assailant may in certain cases further


                                    12
  medical diagnosis and treatment purposes and, thus, be admissible

  under CRE 803(4). But in this case, we do not see how R.F.’s

  identification of her assailant advanced any medical purpose. It

  was appropriate for Ropelewski to ask R.F. about the events leading

  to her injuries to assist with medical diagnosis and treatment, one

  aspect being that R.F. would be safe and was not returning to a

  potentially dangerous situation.

¶ 28   Ropelewski knew that R.F.’s assailant was her boyfriend with

  whom she lived in an apartment. Based on this information,

  Ropelewski was able to set up a safety plan that ensured R.F. did

  not return to the apartment, as Ropelewski knew that R.F. was

  going home with her mother upon discharge. Ropelewski was also

  able to provide R.F. with domestic violence resources.

¶ 29   Missing, though, and critical to our analysis, is any

  explanation from Ropelewski, in her testimony or in her medical

  notes, about why learning the identity of the assailant was

  necessary to further these two objectives. Simply because a victim

  identifies her assailant to a SANE or other medical personnel does

  not automatically transform that statement into one for medical

  treatment or diagnosis. Without more explanation from Ropelewski


                                     13
  as to why the assailant’s identity was necessary to medically treat

  R.F., we conclude that the identity of the R.F.’s assailant by name

  was inadmissible hearsay under CRE 803(4). See People v. Vigil,

  127 P.3d 916, 924 (Colo. 2006) (Although dealing with whether a

  child’s statements to a SANE were testimonial for purposes of the

  Confrontation Clause, the supreme court upheld the district court’s

  exclusion of the child’s statement of the assailant by name under

  CRE 803(4) “because the identity of the male who penetrated the

  child was immaterial to the doctor’s opinion.”).

¶ 30   Although not dispositive, relevant to our inquiry, is that the

  police were present at the hospital, appeared at times to be in the

  examination room with R.F., and returned to the hospital to obtain

  more information from R.F. about the whereabouts of R.F.’s

  boyfriend after officers failed to make contact with him at the

  apartment. See Tyme, ¶ 17 (noting that, “[w]here the facts and

  circumstances surrounding the statements give rise to an inference

  that the forensic examination or interview had no medical or

  diagnostic characteristic, but was rather purely investigative, the

  statements may not be considered trustworthy and thus may not be

  admissible”). Under these circumstances, and in the absence of


                                    14
testimony from Ropelewski as to what medical purpose was served

by R.F.’s identification of her assailant by name, we conclude the

court erred by admitting the references to Starr’s identity in R.F.’s

medical records.1




1 Starr also challenged R.F.’s statements identifying her assailant

by name to Ropelewski as testimonial statements implicating the
Confrontation Clause. Because we have already determined the
court erred by admitting R.F.’s statements under CRE 803(4), we do
not address Starr’s Confrontation Clause arguments based on the
doctrine of constitutional avoidance. See People v. Lybarger, 700
P.2d 910, 915 (Colo. 1985) (“Axiomatic to the exercise of judicial
authority is the principle that a court should not decide a
constitutional issue unless and until such issue is actually raised
by a party to the controversy and the necessity for such decision is
clear and inescapable.”).
      We acknowledge, however, that the analysis under CRE 803(4)
is similar, in part, to the analysis of whether a declarant’s “primary
purpose” in making a statement implicates the Confrontation
Clause. Statements are testimonial for Confrontation Clause
purposes “when the circumstances objectively indicate that there is
no . . . ongoing emergency, and that the primary purpose of the
interrogation is to establish or prove past events potentially relevant
to later criminal prosecution.” Ohio v. Clark, 576 U.S. 237, 244
(2015) (quoting Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S. 813, 822 (2006)); see
also People v. Phillips, 2012 COA 176, ¶ 114 (quoting Michigan v.
Bryant, 562 U.S. 344, 366 (2011)). Despite any similarity in the
analytical frameworks, though, we point to the police presence at
the hospital and the police investigation to support our CRE 803(4)
analysis that Starr’s identity had no medical diagnosis or treatment
purpose. As a result, we take no position on what R.F.’s “primary
purpose” was when she identified Starr by name.


                                  15
                     D.    The Error is not Harmless

¶ 31   Because Starr objected to the court’s admission of Starr’s

  identification through R.F.’s medical records, we review under

  nonconstitutional harmless error. “Under this standard, reversal is

  required only if the error affects the substantial rights of the

  parties.” Hagos v. People, 2012 CO 63, ¶ 12; see also Crim. P.

  52(a). This means that reversal is required only when “the error

  substantially influenced the verdict or affected the fairness of the

  trial proceedings.” People v. Tevlin, 715 P.2d 338, 342 (Colo. 1986).

¶ 32   We conclude for three reasons that the error was not

  harmless.

¶ 33   First, R.F.’s statement to Ropelewski that her boyfriend —

  whom R.F. identified as Starr according to her medical records —

  assaulted her was the only direct evidence linking Starr to the




                                     16
  assault. As mentioned previously, R.F. and Officer Schneider were

  not present at trial to testify.2

¶ 34   After R.F. was able to escape her apartment, she encountered

  Watson, who helped her call police. Although R.F. told Watson she

  had been beaten up by her boyfriend, Watson never testified that

  R.F. told him her boyfriend’s name. The record does not reflect the

  content of R.F.’s 911 call, nor was the content of the call introduced

  into evidence at trial, so we do not know what R.F said to the 911

  operator. Although Officer Hoover testified about parts of his

  investigation, Officer Schneider was the primary officer who spoke

  with R.F. Because Officer Schneider did not testify at trial, none of

  R.F.’s statements to the police were admitted into evidence.

  Likewise, Officer Schneider wrote a report that might have identified




  2 We acknowledge that it is immaterial whether the declarant is

  available for purposes of the medical and diagnosis exception to
  hearsay exception, CRE 803(4). Regardless, the prosecutor had no
  explanation why Officer Schneider was not under subpoena to
  testify. And as to R.F., the prosecutor indicated that, although R.F.
  had been cooperating, he did not serve her with a subpoena
  because his process server was sick. But the prosecutor did not
  explain why he could not have retained another process server or
  claim that he was unable to serve R.F. because he did not know her
  address or because of some other unforeseen challenge.

                                      17
  Starr as R.F.’s assailant, but the report was not admitted into

  evidence.

¶ 35   And Officer Hoover’s testimony was limited, given he was not

  the primary investigating officer and because the court suppressed

  Starr’s statements made to him at the apartment. Officer Hoover

  testified, “I don’t believe I spoke to [R.F.], that was my partner that

  spoke with her. I was just on scene.” Therefore, his testimony was

  limited to his collection of evidence at the apartment, including

  photographing Starr. And Officer Hoover did not testify that Starr

  identified himself as R.F.’s boyfriend or that Starr admitted he lived

  in the apartment. Because of the district court’s suppression

  ruling, defense counsel objected at trial when the prosecutor

  attempted to question Officer Hoover about any statements Starr

  might have made at the apartment.

¶ 36   Officer Hoover identified Starr in court, but the officer’s

  identification was nothing more than a statement that Starr was the

  person he photographed at the apartment. Significantly, Officer

  Hoover did not testify that Starr was R.F.’s boyfriend, Starr lived

  with R.F., or Starr was the person who assaulted her.




                                     18
¶ 37   The record indicates that the prosecution relied on R.F.’s

  statements to medical professionals identifying Starr to link him to

  the person in the apartment and to show that he was the person

  who assaulted her. When Starr sought a judgment of acquittal, the

  prosecutor relied heavily on his attempt to link the person who

  attacked R.F. to the person whom Officer Hoover had identified.

  The court recognized there was a missing link, however, saying,

  “Officer Hoover went to the residence, and he saw Mr. Starr. But

  beyond that, we don’t have anything linking Mr. Starr as the

  perpetrator of [R.F.]’s injuries.”

¶ 38   In response, the prosecutor referred to Ropelewski’s notes

  identifying Starr:

             In part of [Ropelewski’s] report on page 10, she
             discusses that . . . [R.F.] lives at [address] in
             Manitou Springs with her boyfriend, Joshua
             Starr. That is everything the Court needs to
             link the Joshua Starr that we have, whom the
             police identified as the person living at that
             very apartment, as the Joshua Starr that he is
             her boyfriend. She named him as the
             assailant. She named him as his — her
             boyfriend. She named him as living at that
             apartment.

             And all of that is tied to the officer showing up
             at the apartment, finding the very same
             Joshua Starr who he could point to and say,


                                       19
              yes, that is Joshua Starr, and finding all the
              evidence that the crime took place there. The
              Court has everything in terms of ID and
              relationship through what she told
              [Ropelewski], as well as the officer’s
              investigations.

  In denying the motion for judgment of acquittal, the court outlined

  the evidence:

              [R.F.] left her apartment and said her
              boyfriend assaulted her. She was taken to the
              hospital but told law enforcement, this is the
              address where it happened and it was my
              boyfriend, Joshua Starr. Law enforcement
              goes there. He’s not at that apartment, so they
              go back with her to the hospital. At the
              hospital, she tells [Ropelewski], it was my
              boyfriend, Joshua Starr. We live at this
              address together.

  The court further said that, upon returning to the apartment, the

  officers found “the Joshua Starr who [R.F.] identified as her

  boyfriend there.” The court denied the motion, concluding there

  was sufficient circumstantial evidence for the jury to link the

  defendant to the person who was R.F.’s boyfriend and who attacked

  her.

¶ 39     Although Starr does not appeal the court’s denial of his motion

  for judgment of acquittal, we refer to that ruling to note that the

  court misstated the evidence. For example, no testimony in the


                                    20
  record indicates that R.F. told the police officers Starr’s name or

  that her boyfriend lived with her. That information solely came

  from R.F.’s statement to Ropelewski, which Ropelewski repeated at

  trial. True, Officer Hoover testified that R.F. gave Officer Schneider

  her address, which is how the officers knew where she lived. But

  R.F.’s statements to Ropelewski documented in Exhibit 39 are

  necessary to make the connection between the boyfriend with whom

  R.F. lived and Starr.

¶ 40   R.F.’s statements to Ropelewski linking the individual whom

  the police found in the apartment to the person with the same last

  name who attacked R.F. were central to the prosecution’s case, as

  the prosecutor’s closing argument underscored. The prosecutor

  said in closing, R.F. “reported to [Ropelewski] that they lived

  together at the address . . . she reported where it happened, that

  Joshua Starr, this guy, was her boyfriend.”

¶ 41   Defense counsel stressed during closing argument the

  importance of the fact that the police did not conduct an

  investigation or produce a report, and that R.F. was not present at

  trial, “because a large portion of the Government’s case against Mr.

  Starr . . . was conducted . . . through the forensic nurse examiner


                                    21
  and not through Officer Schneider, who could have been here to tell

  you what happened.” Defense counsel concluded by saying, “the

  Government’s attempt at beyond a reasonable doubt in this case is

  to provide a backup officer and medical professionals to show what

  the results of the entire investigation [were] and what you may have

  heard from [R.F.]” Thus, R.F.’s statement to Ropelewski that Starr

  was the person who attacked her was the only evidence at trial that

  identified her attacker by name.

¶ 42   Second, the prosecution provided no corroborating evidence

  that Starr was the attacker. As mentioned above, the 911 call and

  Officer Schnieder’s report were not introduced into evidence. The

  prosecution presented no physical evidence, such as DNA, from

  R.F.’s clothing or blood found in the apartment, to link Starr to the

  assault. True, the prosecution introduced Officer Hoover’s

  photographs of Starr that showed he had injuries consistent with

  being in an altercation. Starr’s injuries were only relevant if his

  identity was ascertained, which again came in through R.F.’s

  hearsay-filled medical records.

¶ 43   Third, the prosecutor agreed to redact or remove the danger

  and safety assessments from Exhibit 39. The record only refers to


                                     22
  page 69 of Exhibit 39 and fails to mention the other pages

  encompassed by the court’s redaction ruling. Our review of Exhibit

  39 suggests that the danger/safety assessments are on pages 15-

  17, 48, and 57. Given the many redactions that should have been

  made to the exhibit, in addition to the redaction of Starr’s name, we

  conclude the error was not harmless. Therefore, we reverse Starr’s

  convictions.

                              III.   Conclusion

¶ 44   We reverse Starr’s judgment of conviction and remand the

  case to the district court for a new trial.

       JUDGE LIPINSKY and JUDGE MOULTRIE concur.




                                      23


Case Information

Court
Colo. Ct. App.
Decision Date
April 3, 2025
Status
Precedential