involuntary intoxication
-
‘Dabs made me do it?’ Colorado justices ponder when defendants can rely on laced drugs as defense
—
by
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court struggled last week to determine where to draw the line between allowing defendants to argue they unwittingly consumed a substance that caused them to engage in criminal behavior, while also preventing a wave of unsubstantiated claims about laced drugs. Under state law, “involuntary intoxication” is an affirmative defense, meaning…
-
Appeals court clarifies defendants’ ability to claim they unknowingly ingested drugs
—
by
Colorado’s second-highest court clarified on Thursday that not every criminal defendant’s claim that they mistakenly ingested a different drug than the drug they thought they were taking will enable them to argue they were “involuntarily intoxicated.” An El Paso County jury convicted Karl Jeran Friday Williams in 2022 after he walked through a Colorado Springs neighborhood…
-
Appeals court orders new trial for defendant barred from invoking ‘laced’ marijuana defense
—
by
For the first time last month, Colorado’s second-highest court determined a man should have been allowed to defend himself against criminal charges by letting jurors evaluate whether he ingested marijuana that, unbeknown to him, was allegedly laced with a stimulant. A Denver jury convicted Isaac U. Mion of robbery, criminal mischief and menacing. There was clear…
