The People of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellant v. Tommy Cowart, Defendant-Appellee

Summary

The court held that Cowart was not in Miranda custody during the consensual, pre-arrest interview at his home because an objective person would not have viewed the circumstances as equivalent to formal arrest. It therefore reversed suppression of his pre-arrest statements and held that the trial court abused its discretion by barring the investigator from testifying in the People's case in chief. The court also concluded that it had jurisdiction to review both rulings through the interlocutory appeal and, alternatively, through original proceedings.