People v. Newton

Lester Newton, the defendant in this case, was tried in the Arapahoe County District Court (trial court) for his involvement in an armed robbery of a local grocery store in Aurora, Colorado. Ronald Riley, a eo-defen-dant, was tried jointly with Newton. At trial, the People called Evonne Cummins, who was Newton’s girlfriend at the time of the robbery, to testify about her knowledge of the robbery. Cummins refused to answer the prosecutor’s questions, repeatedly invoking her right not to testify under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution in the presence of the jury. After…