Garza v. People

We granted certiorari to review the court of appeals decision in People v. Garza, 44 Colo. App. 393, 612 P.2d 1139 (1979), which affirmed the trial court’s refusal to permit the defendant to change his plea from not guilty to not guilty by reason of insanity five days prior to the date scheduled for his trial. We affirm.

The defendant, Esmerejildo Garcia Garza, was arrested on January 8, 1978. At the time of the arrest, Garza told the police that his name was Jesus Valdez. On February 8, 1978, Garza waived a preliminary hearing and pled not guilty to a charge of second-degree assault. Trial…