People v. Crawford

STERNBERG, Judge.

The defendant, Keith Craig Crawford, appeals his conviction of theft over $200, claiming, inter alia, that the trial court erred in failing to give a tendered instruction that a defendant never has the burden of testifying, in admitting evidence of a prior transaction, and in admitting evidence procured during a warrantless search of his office. We reverse.

In 1975 and early 1976, while Crawford was managing the Pueblo Plaza Ice Arena, accounting discrepancies were discovered. Suspicion of wrongdoing became focused on him, and Ice Arena employees and Pueblo police officers…