Tag: affirmative defense
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Divided Colorado Supreme Court curtails use of laced-substances defense
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday walked back the ability of criminal defendants to claim their conduct was the result of consuming an intoxicating substance that secretly contained another behavior-altering substance. Under state law, “involuntary intoxication” is an affirmative defense, meaning the prosecution has to disprove some component of that defense for the jury to…
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Appeals court orders new Weld County murder trial after judge refused to give self-defense instruction
Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday decided a Weld County judge should have instructed jurors to consider whether a man accused of murder acted in self-defense, given that some evidence at the crime scene supported that theory. Jurors convicted Kenneth James Hoschouer III in 2021 of murdering his friend, Christopher Grau, at Grau’s residence in Firestone two years…
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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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Colorado Supreme Court explores limits of ‘Make My Day’ defense
There was no dispute that Justin Brendan Martinez shot and killed his friend, Ismael Huerta, inside Martinez’s house. Martinez and another witness described the shooting as a freak accident, one in which Martinez fired his gun at the floor but happened to fatally wound Huerta. Adams County jurors acquitted Martinez of murder but convicted him…
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Eagle County convictions reversed for prosecutors’ misconduct
Colorado’s second-highest court reversed an Eagle County man’s convictions earlier this month because a trial judge permitted a pair of prosecutors — including one who is now running for district attorney — to misstate the law on self-defense to jurors. A jury acquitted Robert Fergus-Jean of more serious offenses like assault and attempted murder, but convicted him…