The Colorado Crime Of Murder In The Second Degree 18-3-103

To understand the Colorado Criminal Code and more specifically the charge or charges in the Complaint and Information or Grand Jury Indictment against you – you need TWO things.

I. You Will Need To Understand The Actual Statutory Crime With Which You Have Been Charged

– The statute, as of 2016, appears first on this page.

II. You Will Also Need To Understand How The Jury Or Judge Reads The Elements – ( a jury instruction “breakout” of the necessary parts or list of things that make up the crime)

– The Jury Instructions for most of the main forms of the crimes with which individuals are charged – appears after a reprint of the statute defining the crime.

 The Colorado Statutory Crime Of Murder In the Second Degree 18-3-103

 18-3-103. Murder in the second degree

(1)	A person commits the crime of murder in the second degree if the person knowingly causes the death of a person.

(2)	Diminished responsibility due to self-induced intoxication is not a defense to murder in the second degree.

(2.5)

(Deleted by amendment, L. 96, p. 1844, §12, effective July 1, 1996.)

(3)

(a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection (3), murder in the second degree is a class 2 felony. (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (3), murder in the second degree is a class 3 felony where the act causing the death was performed upon a sudden heat of passion, caused by a serious and highly provoking act of the intended victim, affecting the defendant sufficiently to excite an irresistible passion in a reasonable person; but, if between the provocation and the killing there is an interval sufficient for the voice of reason and humanity to be heard, the killing is a class 2 felony.

(4)	A defendant convicted pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall be sentenced by the court in accordance with the provisions of section 18-1.3-406.

The Colorado Jury Instruction For The Crime of Murder In The Second Degree 18-3-103

MURDER IN THE SECOND DEGREE

The elements of the crime of murder in the second degree are:

1. That the defendant,

2. in the State of Colorado, at or about the date and place charged,

3. knowingly,

4. caused the death of another person.

[5. and that the defendant’s conduct was not legally authorized by the affirmative defense[s] in Instruction[s] ____.]

To enlarge the Colorado Felony Sentencing Chart Click once – then click again on the next page: