Opinion
No. 27161
Decided December 20, 1976.
Defendant was acquitted of eight separate offenses and the district attorney brings this appeal to review evidentiary rulings of the trial court.
Affirmed
1. CRIMINAL LAW — Jeopardy — Acquitted — Re-Tried — Negative. Defendant, who was acquitted of all charges, could not be re-tried since he had already been in jeopardy.
2. APPEAL AND ERROR — Questions of Law — Acquittal — Precedential Value — Negative. On appeal by district attorney seeking review of evidentiary rulings of trial court in action in which accused had been acquitted of all charges, supreme court, having reviewed the record of the proceedings in the trial court, does not view the questions of law involved in instant case as having precedential value.
Appeal from the District Court of Pueblo County, Honorable Jack F. Seavy, Judge.
J. E. Losavio, Jr., District Attorney, Cecil L. Turner, Assistant, Henry J. Geisel, Deputy, for plaintiff-appellant.
Rollie R. Rogers, State Public Defender, James F. Dumas, Jr., Chief Deputy, Forrest W. Lewis, Deputy, Gene Beville, Deputy, for defendant-appellee.
Defendant-Appellee David Lee Benns was charged in the district court of Pueblo County with eight separate offenses, including kidnapping, rape, and deviate sexual intercourse. After trial to a jury, he was acquitted of all charges.
The district attorney brings this appeal under section 16-12-102, C.R.S. 1973, to review evidentiary rulings of the trial court.
[1,2] Any decision by this court will not affect the outcome of the litigation nor the relation of the particular parties. The defendant could not be re-tried, having once been in jeopardy. Markiewicz v. Black, 138 Colo. 128, 330 P.2d 539. We have reviewed the record of the proceedings in the trial court and do not view the questions of law involved here to have precedential value. People v. May, 182 Colo. 29, 511 P.2d 22; People v. Woods, 182 Colo. 3, 510 P.2d 435; People v. Kirkland, 174 Colo. 362, 483 P.2d 1349.
We therefore affirm the judgment.