A Douglas County judge violated a defendant’s constitutional right to the counsel of her choice by refusing to postpone sentencing until her lawyer returned to the country, Colorado’s second-highest court concluded on Wednesday. In early 2023, Lyndie J. Felsher received a three-year sentence in community corrections after pleading guilty to a felony drunk driving offense. Two months later, a hired attorney filed a motion on Felsher’s behalf seeking reconsideration of her sentence, but the judge denied it. Several months later, Felsher’s community corrections program terminated her for an unauthorized absence, leading to a warrant for her arrest. On Nov. 17, 2023, the day after her arrest, she appeared in court. Felsher’s public defender told then-District Court Judge Patricia Herron that Felsher wanted her private attorney to represent her at the hearing where Herron would impose a new sentence. Herron reset the hearing to Nov. 22, saying she would not extend the resentencing any further and Felsher “needs to get on top of” re-engaging her lawyer. On Nov. 22, the public defender told Herron that Felsher’s private attorney was out of the country and once again asked her to postpone the hearing. Herron declined and proceeded to resentence Felsher to three years in prison. Felsher then appealed, noting the Colorado Supreme Court has laid out a multi-factor test for judges to use when balancing the need to move forward in criminal proceedings with the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to the counsel of their choice. The factors include the defendant’s motive for requesting a delay, the length of the postponement, the number of extensions already granted and the impact on the court’s docket. Case: People v. FelsherDecided: December 24, 2025Jurisdiction: Douglas CountyRuling: 3-0Judges: Grant T. Sullivan (author)Craig R. WellingChristina F. Gomez A three-judge Court of Appeals panel agreed that, on the whole, the reasons for proceeding immediately did not override Felsher’s constitutional rights. Felsher had already hired her attorney of choice, wrote Judge Grant T. Sullivan in the Dec. 24 opinion, and “nothing suggested that he was otherwise unavailable for a long-term period.” Sullivan continued that the prosecution never argued it would suffer more than an inconvenience from an extension, nor did it appear Herron herself would be greatly inconvenienced. “The court was able to schedule the resentencing hearing a mere three business days after Felsher first appeared following her discharge from community corrections, suggesting that rescheduling the resentencing hearing further out,” Sullivan wrote, “wouldn’t have proved difficult. And unlike a lengthy multiday trial that may have been more challenging to schedule, Felsher’s resentencing hearing would have been relatively short.” The panel reversed Felsher’s prison sentence. Herron retired from the bench a month after resentencing Felsher, but the chief justice subsequently hired her as a part-time senior judge despite the Court of Appeals having reversed numerous convictions and sentences due to her errors. The case is People v. Felsher. ...read more read less