The murder conviction of an Orchard Mesa man found guilty of killing his wife in 2018, along with his 48-year sentence, will stand, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled last week.
Kalab Allen Prettyman, now 41, was convicted by a Mesa County jury on second-degree murder, first-degree assault and child abuse.
In his appeal, Prettyman’s court-appointed attorneys tried to argue that District Judge Lance Timbreza erred when he allowed evidence of prior incidents leading up the the shooting death of his then 37-year-old wife, Melissa Prettyman.
A three-judge panel of the appellate court disagreed, saying it was rejecting his assertion that the evidence was not indicative of domestic violence.
“The record reflects that Prettyman threatened harm against M.P. during each of the prior incidents,” Lino Lipinsky wrote in the ruling, which was joined by Judges Anthony Navarro and Eric Kuhn.
“He discharged multiple rounds in M.P.’s direction during the Moab incident, M.P. told a friend that she was scared for her life during the Christmas tree incident, and Prettyman punched holes in the wall during the holes incident,” Lipinsky added.
“Even if we assumed that Prettyman did not threaten to harm M.P. during any of the prior incidents, we could conclude that the evidence was indicative of domestic violence because ‘threatening or attempting suicide if the victim leaves’ is a ‘dynamic of domestic violence.’ ”
The couple had been married for about 20 years and had two minor children.
During that time, Prettyman had developed mental health issues and occasionally acted violently and threatened suicide, according to the ruling.
One evening in 2018, when the couple had two friends over, Mellisa Prettyman told her husband that he “wasn’t acting right,” causing an argument to begin while the two were in their bedroom, Lipinsky wrote.
“At one point during the argument, Prettyman left the bedroom, passed (the two friends) in the kitchen, and retrieved a gun from a locked safe in the garage,” he wrote. “Prettyman returned to the bedroom and, about a minute later, shot M.P. in the face. M.P. died ‘almost instantly.’ ”
In his appeal, Prettyman’s attorneys also tried to argue that Timbreza improperly sustained numerous objections during defense counsel’s questioning of witnesses, who allegedly were called to show his mental state at the time he “accidentally” shot his wife.
“During (one witness’) cross-examination, many of the defense counsel’s questions concerning (the witness’) perception of Prettyman’s mental state did not specify the relevant time period,” Lipinsky wrote.
“The prosecutor objected to these questions at least 10 times on the grounds that they were not tied to Prettyman’s mental state during the prior incidents or at the time Prettyman shot M.P. The court sustained most of the objections. Each question to which the court sustained an objection either lacked foundation or was irrelevant.”
Prettyman’s appellate attorneys also alleged that Timbreza abused his discretion by imposing the maximum sentence on his murder conviction, but the court said that because the accused used a deadly weapon, the sentence was appropriate.
Prettyman, who is being held in the Fremont Correctional Facility, isn’t eligible for parole until August 2052.
His mandatory release date is in 2064.
