Power to the Peeps

Boulder has been gripped all week by the Carol Burdick eviction trial. Evictions usually don’t make for great news, but Burdick was being sued for $2,300 for failing to pay rent to AIMCO, the management company that held her lease.

Burdick counter-sued in the civil court, claiming that AIMCO breached its contract with her and that the company didn’t like the Easter decorations that adorned her Boulder County apartment door long after the holiday ended, including the colorful marshmallow-candy animals known as Peeps.

The three-day trial came to an end yesterday with a victory for Burdick, who thanked the judge, jury, and “Peeps freaks” around the world for their support, despite her loss in the initial case against her landlord, writes the Daily Camera. The company will receive half of what it was seeking in unpaid rent, $1,132.66, as well as legal fees expected to total less than $1,000.

Burdick isn’t happy about AIMCO’s win, fearing other tenants will face the same fate as her, but she has become a celebrity of sorts. Comedian Stephen Colbert, who has covered the case (below), sent Burdick some Peeps, which she handed out at the trial.

The highlight of the trial may well have been the testimony of Andrew Novick, a self-described Peeps expert and member of Denver punk band Warlock Pinchers. Could Peeps be used as outdoor decoration, as Burdick had done, without being a health hazard? Yes, according to Novick, who says, “I’ve never seen any bugs infest Peeps.”