Deceased/Not Found CO - Kelsey Berreth, 29, Woodland Park, Teller Co, 22 Nov 2018 #71 *GUILTY*

[Gibbo214]

https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/50/6a/c2d18a2348ada954313acca450c5/19cr17-lee-plea-agreement.pdf

KK's actual plea agreement linked above cites KK's potential sentence would be:

...sentenced to Colorado DOC in the range 1 year to 18 months, or up to 3 years in the aggravated range, community corrections or probation. The actual sentence will be open to the court. ..

Still waiting on info from the 4th District DA. I'm assuming the problem might be with the definition of "aggravated range." If this is the case, then her sentence likely limited to 18 months.

I also think this decision probably something that can be appealed to a higher court.

Wait and see...

MOO

I would think that if she was found guilty of evidence tampering, what she did was definitely 'aggravated'. Not just the incident of scrubbing blood from the walls, but helping move the body, watching it burn and taking the gun and phone home with her. How much more 'aggravated' tampering could there be?

 

[Luckyzmom]

18 months .... Really ..... MOO
Please let Kelsey rest in peace

 

[Seattle1]

https://www.courts.state.co.us/Cour..._Announcements/Files/2021/48937602-18-21 .pdf

Feb 18, 2021 -- Court of Appeals, pg. 14/25

Court of Appeals No. 20CA0237
Teller County District Court No. 19CR17
Honorable Scott A. Sells, Judge

The People of the State of Colorado,

Plaintiff-Appellee, v.

Krystal Jean Kenney,

Defendant-Appellant.

SENTENCE VACATED AND CASE REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS

Division VI
Opinion by JUDGE PAWAR
Richman and Lipinsky, JJ., concur

NOT PUBLISHED PURSUANT TO C.A.R. 35(e)

 

[Seattle1]

I would think that if she was found guilty of evidence tampering, what she did was definitely 'aggravated'. Not just the incident of scrubbing blood from the walls, but helping move the body, watching it burn and taking the gun and phone home with her. How much more 'aggravated' tampering could there be?

But Sells told Kenney that what she did was “… cold, calculating and cruel.” Sells added: “Simply saying I’m sorry is not enough. You made an ongoing, multi-day effort to tamper with evidence that spanned hours and hours and hundreds of miles.”

Nielsen said that statement constituted aggravating factors for Sells when he sentenced her client. “There is no basis for aggravation,” Nielsen said.

^^sbbm

Seems a three-Judge panel agreed. Hopefully, the 4th District will appeal to a higher court where the Judge can cite the appropriate terms, and her three-year sentence will stand.

 

[LovesPeace2]

Omg just the hell she should be doing alot longer for what she did . That evil witch she should consider her self lucky just no words I can say about her on here.if the evil witch would of done the right thing Kelsey would be alive jmoo moo moo

 

[steeltowngirl]

What a twit.

I don’t understand how her plea agreement - which said she could be sentenced to up to 3 years - turns out now to not be an agreement after all.

If she was able to overturn the sentence, I wish they could overturn the plea agreement and now try her as an accomplice.

jmo

 

[Seattle1]

What a twit.

I don’t understand how her plea agreement - which said she could be sentenced to up to 3 years - turns out now to not be an agreement after all.

If she was able to overturn the sentence, I wish they could overturn the plea agreement and now try her as an accomplice.

jmo

Clearly, this was a decision based on a technicality (i.e., aggravating factors defined), and I don't think anybody more surprised here than KK's defense team!

If they had any confidence filing an appeal, we (the public) would have heard about this appeal long before today. The announcement was also a big surprise to our local reporters.

In defense of Judge Sells, I think KK's legal team took his words at sentencing and used them against him -- and it worked. I also believe Judge Sells was caught off guard since he was sentencing from a plea agreement, and not imposing a sentence after a jury trial.

I hope the DA appeals this decision to a higher court and the decision is reversed.

And KK will never be retried -- double jeopardy.

 

[Seattle1]

Lance Benzel[URL='https://twitter.com/lancebenzel']@lancebenzel[/URL]

JUST IN: Krystal Kenney to be resentenced after Court of Appeals overturns her 3-year sentence; She is likely to see "immediate" release upon being resentenced, her attorney says. #KelseyBerreth #PatrickFrazee
@csgazette




CO Appeals Court overturns 3-year sentence for former nurse who helped Patrick Frazee after Kelsey...
Krystal Jean Kenney, the former nurse who helped Teller County rancher Patrick Frazee clean up blood after the murder of his fiance Kelsey Berreth, appears on course for an early
gazette.com

3:55 PM · Feb 18, 2021·

 

[Seattle1]

CO Appeals Court overturns 3-year sentence for former nurse who helped Patrick Frazee after Kelsey Berreth murder

Feb 18, 2021

Krystal Jean Kenney, the former nurse who helped Teller County rancher Patrick Frazee clean up blood after the murder of his fiance Kelsey Berreth, appears on course for an early prison release after the Colorado Court of Appeals on Wednesday overturned her three-year sentence.

Ruling that Teller County District Judge Scott Sells erred in sentencing Kenney, 34, in the aggravated range for evidence tampering, a three-judge panel vacated the sentence and ordered Sells to resentence her in the normal range of 1 to 1½ years in prison.

The ruling is likely to set her up for release on parole, said her attorney Dru Nielsen of Denver, who cheered the court’s finding and praised Kenney as an “exemplary inmate.”

[..]

“She’s been in for 13 months. So, yes, with her good and earned time … she should be eligible for release immediately.”

A resentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled, court records show, and Kenney remains incarcerated at the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility.

[..]

She faces a mandatory one-year parole under terms of her plea bargain.

The 12-page ruling was written by Judge Neeti V. Pawar with Judges David J. Richman and Lino S. Lipinsky de Orlov concurring, according to a copy of the order.

The panel found that Kenney, a former Idaho nurse also known as Krystal Lee, did not admit aggravating factors meriting an aggravated sentence as part of her February 2019 plea deal, according to the ruling. Nor did she formally consent to “judicial factfinding” necessary for the judge to impose an aggravated sentence of his own accord.

For those reasons, Sells’ penalty violated Kenney’s constitutional rights under Blakely v. Washington, a 2004 Supreme Court decision, the panel found.

[..]

Sells seized on Kenney’s admission that she “knew Frazee had committed a homicide” in imposing the aggravated sentence. However, the appeals court found that part of her statement wasn’t “essential” to her guilty plea to evidence tampering and couldn’t be lawfully used as grounds for aggravation.

 

[steeltowngirl]

Well, I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised.
It was, after all, a deal with the devil.

At least her boyfriend didn’t get away with murder.

 

[Gibbo214]

Well, I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised.
It was, after all, a deal with the devil.

At least her boyfriend didn’t get away with murder.

No, but she got away with a lot, including conspiracy to murder. I bet those friends of hers who said what a good person she is, will not be leaving her alone with their husbands or accepting any Starbucks coffee from her.

 

[Megnut]

If Kelsey had died from poisoned coffee, Kelsey's baby would've been left all alone in that townhouse... to die.

More evil than the devil himself.

JMO

 

[gitana1]

Woah. How so??? Wasn't max term 3 years?

Any lawyers etc want to chime in? @gitana1

Way back when, Gordianknot and I predicted 18 months or so as the aggravators didn’t seem to be there for more:
GUILTY - CO - Kelsey Berreth, 29, Woodland Park, Teller County, 22 Nov 2018 - *Arrest* #70

 

[Niner]

Geez... I looked in the court site - nothing there.

But I would like someone to "tag" me when her new sentencing date is known!
TIA!

 

[PrairieWind]

I had left this case alone for a long time. Just needed a break from it honestly. But this has been all over local news here so thought I'd check in. It is still surprising how easily she is getting off on this. This whole crime just makes me shake my head. What a waste of lives. And for what?

 

[PommyMommy]

FEB 18, 2021
"A slap in the face:" Accomplice in Kelsey Berreth's murder has three-year prison sentence thrown out (koaa.com)
[...]

News5 spoke with Kenney's attorney, Dru Nielsen, who explained how this decision was reached by the Colorado Court of Appeals. "Prior to the sentencing, I filed an extensive briefing explaining why the range that the judge could sentence her to was one to one and a half years, which is what Krystal had agreed to and negotiated with Dan May. The judge didn't agree with me at that time, but now the Court of Appeals has fully reviewed that decision and has agreed with Krystal," said Nielsen on Thursday afternoon.

[...]

The objection filed by Nielsen in December of 2019 states: "The language that the District Attorney attempted to insert into the plea paperwork - “[t]he Defendant further stipulates to the existence of extraordinary aggravating circumstances that would allow the court to sentence in the aggravated range” - was specifically and intentionally removed from the final paperwork as it was not part of the operative December 20, 2018 agreement."

Also in that document, Nielsen writes that Kenney never waived her Blakely rights. Nielsen stated the maximum sentence the court could impose in this case was 18 months. "The Court of Appeals agreed with the argument that we made at sentencing. I think it was the right decision, and I'm very happy for Krystal that she's going to be resentenced, because she's currently serving an unconstitutional sentence," said Nielsen.

[...]

News5 reached out to one of Berreth's uncles to see if her family had a statement on Kenney's sentencing being vacated.

This is the first I am hearing of it. I can say that I am disgusted and feel this is a slap in the face to our family and the memory of Kelsey.

[...]

The 4th Judicial District told News5 they are reviewing the ruling. They plan to have an update for the public on Friday.

**********​

CLICK HERE to read the full objection to the aggravated range sentencing that was filed by Kenney's defense team, a little more than a month before her sentencing in January of 2020.

CLICK HERE to read the full decision by the Colorado Court of Appeals.

 

[PommyMommy]

FEB 18, 2021
Krystal Kenney's sentence vacated in Kelsey Berreth case after court finds judge error (thedenverchannel.com)
The Colorado Court of Appeals this week found a procedural error and vacated the sentence for Krystal Kenney ...

[...]

The appeals court ruled that District Court Judge Scott Sells did not "specifically inform" Kenney in her plea hearing that she had a right to have a jury "determine aggravating facts beyond a reasonable doubt."

Sells advised Kenney that she would be "giving up some significant, substantial constitutional rights" by pleading guilty in the case, the appeals court ruling said, including the right to have a jury determine all issues of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Sells also told Kenney that she could receive a sentence of up to three years if the court found aggravating factors.

"But nothing in the record reflects 'at a minimum' that (1) the court advised Kenney of her Blakely rights and the consequences of waiving them, and (2) Kenney nevertheless chose to waive them," the appeals court ruling said.

Blakely rights mean that a court may only aggravate a defendant's sentence under certain circumstances, and Sells, during the sentencing, determined Kenney's sentenced could be aggravated.

[...]

It was unclear Thursday when Kenney's case would be returned to district court for resentencing. She remained in a state prison Thursday afternoon. Before her three-year sentence was vacated, her estimated release date was July 7, 2022, according to the state parole board.

[...]

 

[Seattle1]

CLICK HERE to read the full objection to the aggravated range sentencing that was filed by Kenney's defense team, a little more than a month before her sentencing in January of 2020.

^^rsbm

Thanks for the link to the motion @PommyMommy. It was a long time coming..

I recall that the defense motion (challenging the possibility of the aggravated range of sentence at 3 years) prior to KK's sentencing was absent from the case details. We looked for it!

GUILTY - CO - Kelsey Berreth, 29, Woodland Park, Teller County, 22 Nov 2018 - *Arrest* #70

 

[Seattle1]

Colorado Court of Appeals orders former Idaho nurse Krystal Lee Kenney to be resentenced

2/19/2021

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV)—The Colorado Court of Appeals has thrown out the sentencing for a former Idaho nurse imprisoned in connection with Kelsey Berreth’s murder in Woodland Park.

According to court records obtained by our sister station, Thursday a Colorado judge said they believe the Teller County Court wrongly sentenced Krystal Lee outside of the maximum term limits.

Lee pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence charge, a Class 6 felony and sentenced to three years in prison. According to the court papers filed in the Colorado Court of Appeals, they argue the maximum sentence, without aggravating factors, for a Class 6 felony is 18 months. The papers go on to say Lee says her aggravated sentence is unconstitutional.

In a phone call, Lee’s attorney, Dru Nielsen, told 11 News reporter Ashley Franco “She (Krystal) is serving an unconstitutional and unlawful sentence.”

The 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office would not comment on the matter Thursday night. The case will be sent back to the Teller County Court to have Lee re-sentenced.

 

[girlhasnoname]

I get physically sick to my stomach when I see a picture of this ______ .