Colorado

Criminal Procedure

Rule 51 – Exceptions Unnecessary

Exceptions to ruling or orders of the court are unnecessary. For all purposes for which an exception has heretofore been necessary it is sufficient that a party, at the time the court ruling or order is made or sought, makes known to the court the action which he desires the court to take or his objection to the court’s action and the grounds therefor. But if a party has no opportunity to object to a ruling or order, the absence of an objection does not thereafter prejudice him.

Colo. R. Crim. P. 51

Annotation Allegation of prejudice gives standing for review, regardless of lack of objection. A defendant’s claim that the trial court’s ruling adversely affected the exercise of his right to testify in his own defense alleges sufficient prejudice to give him standing to seek review of that ruling, whether or not he objected when the ruling was made. People v. Evans, 630 P.2d 94 (Colo. App. 1981). Court must allow contemporaneous objections to evidence and the court’s rulings. Without a contemporaneous record of the grounds that a party stated at the time of a objection, disputes as to the grounds asserted for error may arise. Jones v. District Court, 780 P.2d 526 (Colo. 1989). Applied in People v. Peterson, 656 P.2d 1301 (Colo. 1983).