People v. Talarico

Decision Date22 February 1977
Docket NumberNo. 27185,27185
Citation192 Colo. 445,560 P.2d 90
PartiesThe PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Tony L. TALARICO, Defendant-Appellee.
CourtColorado Supreme Court

Dale Tooley, Dist. Atty., Second Judicial Dist., State of Colo., Brooke Wunnicke, Chief Appellate Deputy Dist. Atty., Denver, for plaintiff-appellant.

Rollie R. Rogers, Colo. State Public Defender, Carol L. Gerstl, Deputy State Public Defender, James F. Dumas, Jr., Chief Deputy State Public Defender, Denver, for defendant-appellee.

PRINGLE, Chief Justice.

The defendant was arrested by Denver police officers when he was found tampering with a coin box. A subsequent body search disclosed three knives in his possession. He was charged by the police with violation of section 18--4--204, C.R.S.1973, burglary, and Denver City Ordinance, sections 845.1--1 and 845.3, possession of concealed weapons and unlawful knives. Later on the day of the arrest, the defendant pleaded guilty to violation of the ordinances in municipal court.

Three days later, the district attorney filed an information charging the defendant with violation of section 18--4--204, C.R.S.1973, third-degree burglary, and section 18--2--201, C.R.S.1973, conspiracy. The trial court in that action dismissed the state charges concluding that section 18--1--408(2), C.R.S.1973, precluded the district attorney from filing charges stemming from conduct, punishable by the state, which had formed the basis for a municipal prosecution. The district attorney thereupon filed an appeal in the court of appeals and on motion we accepted transfer to this court. We now reverse.

I

At the outset, it is important to remember what issue this case does Not present. There is no contention that the state prosecution in any way constitutes double jeopardy, and of course, it does not. Here the state charges contain elements and require evidence which is wholly distinct from that required under the charges in the municipal prosecution. See Martinez v. People, 174 Colo. 365, 484 P.2d 792 (1971).

We are concerned in this appeal with the construction of a state statute which seeks to prevent vexatious prosecution and harassment of a defendant by a district attorney who initiates successive prosecutions for crimes which stem from the same criminal episode. See People v. District Court, 183 Colo. 101, 515 P.2d 101 (1973). Section 18--1--408(2), C.R.S.1973, provides:

'If the several offenses are known to the district attorney at the time of commencing the prosecution and were committed within his judicial district, all such offenses upon which the district attorney elects to proceed must be prosecuted by separate counts in a single prosecution if they are based on the same act or series of acts arising from the same criminal episode. Any offense not thus joined by separate count cannot thereafter be the basis of a subsequent prosecution.'

Thus, where there was no knowledge or participation by the district attorney in the decision to prosecute different offenses in both the municipal and state systems, the...

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9 cases
  • People v. Leverton
    • United States
    • Colorado Court of Appeals
    • March 23, 2017
    ...a district attorney who initiates successive prosecutions for crimes which stem from the same criminal episode." People v. Talarico, 192 Colo. 445, 446, 560 P.2d 90, 91 (1977) ; see § 18-1-408(2). The statute requires that all such offenses known to the prosecutor which were committed in th......
  • Jeffrey v. District Court In and For Eighth Judicial Dist., 80SA476
    • United States
    • Colorado Supreme Court
    • March 23, 1981
    ...state, the United States, another state, or a municipality. See People v. Hines, 194 Colo. 284, 572 P.2d 467 (1977); People v. Talarico, 192 Colo. 445, 560 P.2d 90 (1977); People v. Pinyan, 190 Colo. 304, 546 P.2d 488 (1976).8 The only language difference between section 18-1-408(2) and Cri......
  • People v. McCormick, 92SC334
    • United States
    • Colorado Supreme Court
    • October 4, 1993
    ...prosecutorial participation in the decisions to prosecute. Williamsen v. People, 735 P.2d 176, 181 (Colo.1987); People v. Talarico, 192 Colo. 445, 446, 560 P.2d 90, 91 (1977). See Pinyan v. People, 190 Colo. 304, 307, 546 P.2d 488, 491 (1976). A review of the decisions articulating this pri......
  • Williamsen v. People
    • United States
    • Colorado Supreme Court
    • April 6, 1987
    ...attorney has no knowledge of and does not participate in the decision to prosecute the different offenses. People v. Talarico, 192 Colo. 445, 446, 560 P.2d 90, 91 (1977). In 1982, the legislature undertook an extensive revision of Colorado motor vehicle and traffic laws. Ch. 173, sec. 10, §......
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