State v. Irons

815 P.2d 1133 (1991)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Irons (D) was sentenced to 2-10 years for burglary and felony theft. He was 19, was sent to the reformatory for eighteen months, and then was paroled. He moved to Denver with his wife and child. Six years later in 1988, D was stopped for DUI, and he became belligerent with the police. His parole was revoked, and he was sent back to a work release facility. D worked at the Cinema and failed to come back. D was charged with aggravated escape. The State moved in limine that no evidence regarding D’s motive for escape be admitted at trial. D claimed that he received threats from other inmates. D had been interviewed by a TV show and of his 20-minute interview, only a few seconds was shown in which he was quoted as saying that the CRC program was not that bad. This angered other inmates, but no one threatened him. However, he was frightened to return to his dorm, he slept behind a soda machine that night, and during that night, other inmates had urinated on his bunk. The next morning threats were made that he would be sodomized. When he went to work that morning, two of the inmates appeared at his bus stop and began chasing him. When he ran into a 7-11, they stopped but said they were going to kill him and sodomize him. D called the judge who sentenced him, and the judge told him he could not do anything for him, but he should call security at CRC. When D talked with security, he was advised to come in, but he was afraid that he would get beat up. D was told he would be moved to another room and then to another facility in about a week. D said he would not come back and the manager said he would call him later that night. The call never occurred, and D called and was told the manager was out. D did not come back but did call the next morning, but the manager was not there. When he called again, he was told he was wanted for escape. D said he was not coming back and left for Texas. He was picked up five months later. D argued that this testimony supported the defense of compulsion. The trial court sustained the motion in limine because the threats were not imminent and thus the defense was unavailable. D was convicted and sentenced to five years.