By SAMUEL LOPEZ
USA HERALD (August 24, 2025)
The Colorado Court of Appeals delivered a stark reminder Thursday that constitutional deadlines don’t bend for judicial convenience, reversing a sexual assault conviction and 34-year-to-life sentence because a trial court stretched the speedy trial window by exactly 30 days too many.
In a unanimous decision that reads like a constitutional law seminar wrapped in real-world consequences, the three-judge panel dismantled what they saw as a fundamental misunderstanding of how emergency pandemic provisions actually work. The case of Anastacio Mares isn’t just about calendar management—it’s about what happens when courts mistake expired statutory authority for ongoing judicial discretion.
Here’s where the system broke down: Colorado’s speedy trial clock is merciless. Six months from a not-guilty plea, period. Mares entered his plea in June 2022, competency evaluation complete, counsel present, speedy trial rights asserted loud and clear. That gave District Judge Eric M. Johnson until December 13, 2022, to get this case to trial. Not December 14th. Not January anything. December 13th.
