People v. Lewis
People v. Lewis
Opinion of the Court
¶ 1 Defendant, Ronald Laroy Lewis, appeals the judgment of conviction entered on jury verdicts finding him guilty of Internet sexual exploitation of a child and Internet luring of a child. We affirm.
I. Background
¶ 2 In response to Lewis's Craigslist advertisement soliciting a "barely legal" for sexual acts, Douglas County Sheriff's Detective Christine Brite pretended to be a fourteen-year-old girl named "Kayla Nelson." After exchanging sexually explicit messages via computers, Brite forwarded to Lewis an image of what appeared to be a teenage girl. Lewis inquired whether or not "Kayla" was "legit," sent "Kayla" a sexually explicit photograph of himself, and arranged to meet her.
¶ 3 Expecting to meet "Kayla" outside his residence in Jefferson County, Lewis was instead arrested by police and charged in Douglas County with Internet sexual exploitation of a child and Internet luring of a child. Lewis's defense at trial was that he did not really believe that the person responding as "Kayla" was only fourteen years old. A jury convicted him as charged.
¶ 4 On appeal, Lewis contends that (1) the trial court erred by instructing the jury that the prosecution was not required to prove that the offenses were committed, as charged, in Douglas County; (2) the prosecution failed to present substantial and sufficient evidence showing that the offense was committed in Douglas County; (3) the trial court erred in allowing the jury unsupervised access to the videotape of Lewis' interrogation by the police following his arrest; and (4) the prosecutor repeatedly made improper comments implying guilt based upon Lewis's exercise of his constitutional right to remain silent. We address-and reject-each contention in turn.
II. Instructing the Jury on the Prosecution's Burden of Proof with Respect to the County Where the Offenses Occurred
¶ 5 After the prosecution presented its case, the court received a question from a *73juror which read: "What are the jurisdictional roles in this case? A Douglas County detective arresting a Jefferson County suspect and a Littleton 'victim.' " With the parties' agreement, the court did not answer the question.
¶ 6 After the close of all the evidence, defense counsel asserted that the elemental instructions for the offenses should include a requirement that the prosecution prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the offenses were committed, as charged, in Douglas County. Defense counsel's assertion was premised on the view that proper venue is an element of a crime. The trial court rejected counsel's assertion, and, over his objection, instructed the jury, at the prosecutor's request, that "proof of the county in which the offense occurred shall not constitute an element of any offense and need not be proven by the prosecution at trial." The instruction's language was taken nearly verbatim from section 18-1-202(11), C.R.S. 2017, and the court noted that, under that statute, any issues pertaining to the proper venue for trial had to be raised before trial or they were waived.
A. Presentation and Preservation of Issues
¶ 7 Defense counsel objected to the court's instructions because, in his view, they improperly lowered the prosecution's burden of proof and therefore "impede[d] Mr. Lewis's due process rights under the state and federal constitutions." Lewis reasserts that position on appeal. To succeed, however, he recognizes that he also must contest the constitutionality of section 18-1-202(11), C.R.S. 2017.
¶ 8 "To preserve an issue for appeal, a defendant must alert the trial court to the particular issue." People v. Cordova ,
B. Analysis
¶ 9 Lewis correctly points out that "[u]nder both the United States and Colorado Constitutions, due process requires the trial court to properly instruct the jury on every element of the substantive offense with which the defendant is charged so the jury may determine whether all the elements have been established beyond a reasonable doubt." People v. Pickering ,
¶ 10 Lewis asserts that this was not done here, however, because the court failed to recognize that proper venue was a substantive element of the crimes charged.
¶ 11 In People v. Reed ,
Prior to 1992, in the absence of any legislative provision to the contrary, a defendant's right to trial in the county where the crime was committed was vindicated at the trial itself, with the prosecution having an obligation to prove venue as alleged, just "as any other issue in the case." If the issue was raised, and the prosecution failed to prove venue to the satisfaction of the trier of fact, beyond a reasonable doubt, the defendant was entitled to acquittal. Therefore, in a jury trial, unless there was not even sufficient evidence of the location of the crime to withstand a motion for *74judgment of acquittal, the issue was one for jury determination.
In 1992, however, the legislature radically changed the nature and effect of a venue determination, see Ch. 73, sec. 12, § 18-1-202(11),1992 Colo. Sess. Laws 396 , 402, placing Colorado among a small minority of jurisdictions treating venue solely as a procedural prerequisite to prosecution. No longer is an allegation of venue a matter to be proved to the satisfaction of the jury, as other elements of an offense, unless the statute defining the crime actually requires as much. § 18-1-202(11), C.R.S. (2005). Instead, any objection to the place of trial authorized by this provision is waived unless it is raised by written motion before trial, in the manner prescribed.Id.
Id . at 349-50 (footnote omitted) (some citations omitted).
¶ 12 Lewis points out, however, that the supreme court in Reed was not called upon to determine whether in 1992 the General Assembly could constitutionally convert venue from an element to a non-element of a crime. Lewis says it could not, based on Amendment VI to the United States Constitution.
¶ 13 "A statute is presumed to be constitutional; the challenging party bears the burden of proving its unconstitutionality beyond a reasonable doubt." Dean v. People ,
¶ 14 United States Constitution Amendment VI provides, in pertinent part, that
[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where the crime shall have been committed , which district shall have been previously ascertained by law.
(Emphasis added.)
¶ 15 Most federal courts applying this provision recognize that, contrary to Lewis's position, venue is not an element of a crime which needs to be proven by the prosecution beyond a reasonable doubt. See, e.g. , United States v. Davis ,
¶ 16 True, in federal court, unless waived, the prosecution must prove venue to the jury's satisfaction by a preponderance of the evidence. See, e.g. , Davis ,
¶ 17 A defendant's right to proper venue can be vindicated without having to submit the issue to a jury. See, e.g. , People v. Posey ,
¶ 18 Ordinarily, "[t]he power to define criminal conduct and to establish the legal components of criminal liability is vested in the General Assembly." Copeland v. People ,
¶ 19 Because venue does not relate to the guilt or innocence of a defendant, and because a defendant's right to proper venue can be vindicated by other means, the General Assembly's determination that it was not an element of a crime and could be waived does not offend any principle so rooted in the traditions or conscience of our citizens as to be ranked "fundamental." See People v. Gallegos ,
¶ 20 Consequently we conclude that section 18-2-101(11) is constitutional, and, thus, the trial court's instructions were proper.
III. Sufficiency of the Evidence Proving Proper Venue
¶ 21 As a corollary to the arguments he made about the court's instructions, Lewis contends that the prosecution failed to present evidence at trial to support a finding beyond a reasonable doubt of proper venue. But as we explained above, the prosecution had no such burden, particularly since, as the trial court noted, under section 18-1-202(11) Lewis waived any issue as to venue by failing to bring it to the court's attention within the time prescribed by statute.
IV. Jury's Unrestricted Access to Lewis's Videotaped Statement
¶ 22 We also reject Lewis's contention that reversal is required because the *76trial court erroneously allowed the jury to have unsupervised and unlimited access during deliberations to his videotaped statements.
¶ 23 Initially, we note that at the close of evidence, the trial court inquired if defense counsel had any objection to "the jury having an ability to view [the videotaped statements] without any sort of further instructions or court supervision." Counsel responded, "No, I do not, Your Honor, because I don't believe that's the type of video where it's a forensic type of situation."
¶ 24 The invited error rule "prevents a party from inducing an inappropriate or erroneous [ruling] and then later seeking to profit from that error." Horton v. Suthers ,
¶ 25 Recently, a division of this court recognized that the "express acquiescence" part of the invited error rule falls within more traditional notions of "waiver," the effect of which, again, would be to preclude review on appeal. See People v. Rediger ,
¶ 26 Here, defense counsel agreed that the jury could have unsupervised and unrestricted access to the videotape during deliberations. In doing so, defense counsel waived Lewis's right to complain about the jury's unrestricted access to the videotape.
¶ 27 Furthermore, even if we were to review Lewis's contention on the merits, we would reject it. In Rael v. People ,
¶ 28 Consequently, Lewis is not entitled to reversal on this ground.
V. Prosecutorial Misconduct
¶ 29 Finally, Lewis contends that the prosecutor improperly implied in closing argument that he was guilty based on his exercise of his constitutional rights to remain silent and against self-incrimination. We disagree.
¶ 30 Initially, we note that defense counsel did not object to the comments Lewis challenges on appeal; consequently, reversal is not warranted absent a showing of plain error. See People v. Gordon ,
¶ 31 We perceive no error, much less plain error, here.
¶ 32 The prosecutor's comments addressed what Lewis said-and did not say-in the course of an approximately fifty minute, videotaped statement he gave to the detective. Prior to giving his statement, Lewis had been advised of and waived his Miranda rights. See *77Miranda v. Arizona ,
¶ 33 In closing argument, the prosecutor contrasted what Lewis had said with what he had not said. For example, the prosecutor talked about how Lewis had volunteered lots of information during the interview but never blamed himself or categorically denied that he would have had sex with "Kayla" if she had turned out to be real.
¶ 34 We agree with the People that the prosecutor's comments go not to Lewis's silence in the face of police questioning but, rather, to the content of his statements. See People v. Rogers ,
¶ 35 In so concluding, we necessarily reject, as misplaced, Lewis's reliance on People v. Ortega ,
¶ 36 Unlike the defendant in Ortega , Lewis did not make a brief statement, answer only some questions, or volunteer only limited statements. Instead, he talked at length, and he never attempted to refrain from answering inquiries. More importantly, though, subsequent United States and Colorado Supreme Court case law have superceded the premises underlying Ortega . See Berghuis v. Thompkins ,
*78People v. Quintana ,
¶ 37 For these reasons, we perceive no error, much less plain error, as a result of the prosecutor's remarks.
VI. Conclusion
¶ 38 The judgment of conviction is affirmed.
JUDGE HAWTHORNE and JUDGE WELLING concur.
Section 18-1-202(11), C.R.S. 2017, provides, in pertinent part:
Proof of the county in which the offense occurred or which county is the proper place for trial pursuant to this section shall not constitute an element of any offense and need not be proven by the prosecution at trial unless required by the statute defining the offense. Any challenge to the place of trial ... shall be made by motion in writing no later than twenty-one days after arraignment, except for good cause shown. The court shall determine any such issue prior to the commencement of the trial. ... Failure to [so] challenge the place of trial ... shall constitute a waiver of any objection to the place of trial.
He also relies on the similarly worded article II, section 16 of the Colorado Constitution ("In criminal prosecutions the accused shall have the right to ... a speedy public trial by an impartial jury of the county or district in which the offense is alleged to have been committed."). But defense counsel never mentioned the state constitution in the trial court, much less made a separate state constitutional argument there (or even here on appeal). "Where, as here, a defendant does not make a specific objection, with a separate argument , under the state constitution, we must presume the defendant's objections are based on federal, not state, constitutional grounds, and limit our review accordingly." People v. Rodriguez ,
The emphasized language is sometimes called the vicinage clause. Though overlapping, venue and vicinage actually address different things: "[V]enue refers to the location where the trial is held, whereas vicinage refers to the area from which the jury pool is drawn. It is possible in theory to change one but not the other." Price v. Superior Court ,
"[V]enue is a procedural question involving the appropriateness of a place for a defendant's trial on a criminal charge, and not a substantive question relating to the defendant's guilt or innocence of the crime charged." People v. Posey ,
As pertinent here, silence "includes the statement of a desire to remain silent, as well as of a desire to remain silent until an attorney has been consulted." People v. Rogers ,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.