Tina Peters’ attorneys are trying to convince a Colorado court to overturn a conviction for voting violations

DENVER (AP) — Lawyers for former Colorado elections clerk Tina Peters will try to persuade the state appeals court Wednesday to overturn her conviction in a case related to the 2020 presidential election as her supporters, including President Donald Trump, continue to pressure the state to release her.

Peters, a former Mesa County employee, was convicted of state crimes for organizing a data breach of county election equipment, prompted by false claims about voting machine fraud after Trump lost his re-election bid. She is serving a nine-year sentence in a Pueblo prison after a 2024 conviction in her home county, a Republican stronghold that supports Trump.

Trump pardoned Peters in December, but his pardon power does not extend to state crimes. Peters’ lawyers said Trump has the authority to pardon her, arguing that President George Washington pardoned people convicted of state and federal crimes during the Whiskey Rebellion of 1795.

The state’s lawyers pointed out that the governor of Pennsylvania then issued a pardon to those who violated the state’s laws during the unrest. Peters’ lawyers then argued that the president has the right to pardon people who committed crimes to carry out their federal duties, such as maintaining election information.

Prosecutors said Peters became obsessed with voting problems after he became involved with activists who questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election, including Ohio math teacher Douglas Frank and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell.

Peters used someone else’s security badge to allow former Lindell-affiliated surfer Conan Hayes to view a software update to her county’s election management system. Prosecutors said he made copies of the system’s hard drive before and after the upgrade, and that partially redacted security passwords later appeared on the Internet, prompting an investigation. Hayes has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Peters did not deny the deception but said she had to do so to ensure election records were not erased. She claims she should not be prosecuted because she had a duty under federal law to protect her.

Her lawyers also say the partially redacted passwords did not pose a security risk, and noted that some of the same type of voting system passwords for Colorado counties were mistakenly posted on a state website until they were discovered in 2024. Prosecutors determined there was no intent to commit a crime, so no charges were filed.

State attorneys argued that Peters did not need to commit crimes to protect election data because her employees had already backed up the information before the promotion. Instead, they say the hard drive copies captured Dominion Voting Systems’ proprietary software.

Peters also said District Judge Matthew Barrett violated her First Amendment rights by giving her a harsh sentence for nearly a decade for making claims about election fraud. He described her as a “charlatan” and said that she poses a danger to society for spreading lies about voting and undermining the democratic process.

Last month, Peters lost a bid in federal court to be released from prison while appealing her conviction.

Her lawyers say she is at least entitled to a new sentencing hearing because Barrett based his sentence in part on a contempt conviction in a related case that was overturned by an appeals court last year. They are also asking the appeals court to recognize Trump’s pardon and release Peters immediately.

Peters’ release became a cause célèbre in the election conspiracy movement.

Trump criticized both Democratic Gov. Jared Polis and the Republican prosecutor who brought the charges, Dan Rubinstein, for keeping Peters in prison.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons attempted to transfer Peters to a federal prison but failed. Polis said he was considering granting clemency to Peters, and described her sentence as “harsh.”

Jake Lange, who was charged with assaulting a police officer during the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 and who was later pardoned by Trump, announced on social media last month that the “January 6 Patriot” and US Marshals would storm a Colorado prison to release Peters unless she was released by the end of this month.

The post included a video phone interview with Peters from behind bars. But a message on PetersX’s account said she was not involved in any demonstration or event in the prison and denounced any use of force against her.