Charity Lehnert, Petitioner v. the People of the State of Colorado, Respondent

Summary

The court held that the crime-of-violence mandatory sentence could not stand because the verdict form required the jury to find that the defendant possessed or threatened to use a deadly weapon, rather than making the statutorily required finding that she possessed and threatened to use one. Although the defendant did not object, the wording discrepancy constituted trial error subject to plain-error review, and the record showed a reasonable possibility that it affected the required finding and the enhanced sentence. The court reversed the intermediate appellate decision, vacated the sentence, and remanded for resentencing.