The People of the State of Colorado, Petitioner v. Dherl Jefferson, Respondent

Summary

The court held that the trial court abused its discretion by granting the jury unfettered access during deliberations to a DVD containing the child victim's forensic interview because the court relied on factors drawn from an analysis that had been rejected and did not adequately assess the risk of undue emphasis. The error was not harmless because the DVD supplied details missing from the victim's trial testimony, was central to the prosecution's case, and left the court with grave doubts about its effect on the verdict and fairness of the proceedings. Justice Boatright, dissenting, would have found no abuse of discretion and would have affirmed the convictions, or alternatively remanded for clarification of the ambiguous record.