Eric Marcus Doyle, Petitioner v. the People of the State of Colorado, Respondent

Summary

The court held that the trial court improperly took judicial notice that Doyle failed to appear, because the truth of a factual finding from a prior proceeding is not beyond reasonable dispute merely because it appears in a court record. The error was not harmless because the jury was instructed that the court had accepted the fact as true and that it was not subject to reasonable dispute. The judgment was reversed and the case remanded for a new trial.