Dennis Sanchez v. the People of the State of Colorado

Summary

The court reversed the defendant’s conviction for sexual assault on a child as part of a pattern of abuse because the jury’s verdict established only that two touching incidents occurred and did not unambiguously find every element of sexual assault on a child. The jury instructions and verdict form therefore failed to produce a constitutionally sufficient guilty verdict, and the resulting error was structural. The court did not decide whether the charging document was adequately narrowed or whether the prosecution properly elected a predicate act.