self defense
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Appeals court reverses Jeffco assault convictions due to omitted jury instruction
Colorado’s second-highest court agreed last month that a Jefferson County defendant’s assault convictions could not stand because his jury should have been allowed to consider whether he used force against a bar patron to defend his girlfriend from inappropriate touching. While the testimony conflicted and the surveillance video was not conclusive, jurors heard that Scott…
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Adams County murder conviction reversed due to faulty jury instruction
Colorado’s second-highest court overturned an Adams County defendant’s murder conviction last month because the instruction provided to the jury about a trespasser’s right to use self-defense did not accurately reflect Colorado law. A person is justified in using force to defend himself if he has a reasonable belief that another person will imminently use unlawful…
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Colorado Supreme Court recognizes right to self-defense in workplace
The Colorado Supreme Court recognized on Monday that there is a right to self-defense in the workplace for which employers may not terminate workers so long as they lawfully exercise that right. The court’s majority in the 5-2 decision cautioned that its holding was narrow, but that the history and importance of self-defense meant the…
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Appeals court orders new menacing trial after faulty self-defense instruction
Colorado’s second-highest court ordered a new trial last week for an El Paso County defendant convicted of felony menacing, concluding an erroneous self-defense instruction may have influenced the verdict. Under Colorado law, self-defense is an affirmative defense, meaning the prosecution must disprove at least one component in addition to proving the underlying offense. Judges are…
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Appeals court overturns road rage murder conviction due to faulty jury instruction
Colorado’s second-highest court overturned a defendant’s murder conviction on Thursday, concluding an Arapahoe County judge provided an incorrect self-defense instruction to the jury about the road rage encounter. In November 2020, Romeo Desean Thompson was behind Phillip Hunt at an intersection. The light turned green, but Hunt did not immediately move forward. Thompson honked, after…
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Colorado Supreme Court considers right to self-defense in workplace
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court seemed open on Tuesday to recognizing a right for employees to use self-defense in the workplace without facing termination. “It may be shoplifting, but if it’s a self-defense situation and you’re reasonably in danger of serious injury or death, why should the employer make that choice for the employee…
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Appeals court overturns assault conviction due to Arapahoe County prosecutor’s misconduct
Colorado’s second-highest court ordered a new trial on Thursday after concluding an Arapahoe County prosecutor’s improper commentary about a defendant’s constitutional right to silence undermined the fairness of his trial. A three-judge Court of Appeals panel acknowledged it was fair game for the prosecution to cross-examine defendant Dominic Jorge Martinez about inconsistencies between his trial…
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Appeals court ‘reluctantly’ sides with Jeffco DA in disapproving judge’s self-defense ruling
Colorado’s second-highest court, by 2-1, agreed last week that a Jefferson County judge should not have let jurors consider whether a defendant acted in self-defense at a trial that resulted in his acquittal for menacing a police officer. However, members of the three-judge Court of Appeals panel criticized District Attorney Alexis King’s office for bringing…
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Colorado justices weigh unique defense to murder for non-triggermen
Some members of the Colorado Supreme Court on Wednesday signaled their agreement with the notion that a defendant need not admit to committing an underlying offense in order to assert a defense to the more serious crime of felony murder. Felony murder is a unique offense, in which a defendant is guilty if he participates in…
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Defendants may claim harassment in self-defense, state Supreme Court rules
People may assert that they committed harassment in self-defense, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday, finding that an Arapahoe County judge mistakenly failed to instruct a jury that they could acquit a tow truck driver if they believed he punched another motorist to defend himself. Under state law, the crime of harassment involves striking…