In re People v. Silva-Jaquez.

2025 CO 11. No. 24SA234. Discovery—Inherent Authority—Post-Conviction Proceedings—People v. Kilgore—People v. Owens—Crim. P. 35(c)—C.A.R. 21.

March 3, 2025

The supreme court held that a trial court may not rely on its inherent authority to order discovery in a post-conviction proceeding. In Colorado, a trial court has no freestanding authority to order discovery in a criminal case beyond what is authorized by a constitutional provision, statute, or rule. When, as here, no constitutional provision, statute, or rule authorizes discovery, a trial court errs in ordering discovery. Because the post-conviction court here improperly relied on its inherent authority to compel certain expert disclosures from the defense, it erred. Accordingly, the court made absolute the order to show cause, and remanded the matter for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.