In a split decision, the Colorado Supreme Court reversed a lower courtâs ruling that dismissed the conviction of a Grand Junction woman for selling methamphetamine to her 15-year-old stepbrother.
In the case of People v. Murphy, the high court ruled Monday that Mesa County District Judge Lance Timbreza did not err when he allowed a police officer to testify as a lay witness about the body language of the stepbrother when he was interviewed about where he got the drug.
That interview directly led police to search the home of Justine Lynn Murphy, who later was convicted in 2017 of distributing methamphetamine and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Murphy was sentenced to 8 years in prison, but is now out on parole.
A school resource officer’s interpretation of a boy’s body language was an acceptable piece of testimony in the trial of the boy’s relative, the Colorado Supreme Court decided by 6-1 on Monday.
“Certain types of body language, like the myriad hand signals of a Colorado Rockies third base coach or the gestures of the conductor of the Colorado Symphony, may lie outside an ordinary person’s knowledge and experience,” wrote Justice Maria E. Berkenkotter in the majority opinion. “Other types of body language, however, are very familiar to ordinary people because everyday social interactions present countless opportunities to observe body language and ascribe meaning to it.”