The People of the State of Colorado, Petitioner v. Emmett Andrew Larsen, Respondent

Summary

The court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to poll the jury after a prejudicial news report appeared online and in a local newspaper during trial. Although the report contained inadmissible and prejudicial information, its limited distribution, the trial court's repeated and timely admonitions, and the risk that polling could prompt jurors to seek out the report made jury exposure insufficiently likely to require polling. The court therefore reversed the court of appeals and affirmed Larsen's convictions. Justice Hood, joined by Justices Márquez and Gabriel, concurred in the result but would have found a Harper violation and deemed the error harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.