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The Colorado Crime of Third Degree Assault 18-3-204
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 makes 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 Statutory Crime Of Third Degree Assault 18-3-204
18-3-204. Assault in the third degree.
(1) A person commits the crime of assault in the third degree if:
(a) The person knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury to another person or with
criminal negligence the person causes bodily injury to another person by means of a deadly weapon;
or
(b) The person, with intent to harass, annoy, threaten, or alarm another person whom the actor
knows or reasonably should know to be a peace officer, a firefighter, an emergency medical care
provider, or an emergency medical service provider, causes the other person to come into contact
with blood, seminal fluid, urine, feces, saliva, mucus, vomit, or toxic, caustic, or hazardous
material by any means, including throwing, tossing, or expelling the fluid or material.
(2) (a) The court shall order any adult or juvenile who is bound over for trial for an offense
described in subsection (1) of this section, any person convicted of any such offense, or any
person who is determined to have provided blood, seminal fluid, urine, feces, saliva, mucus, or
vomit to a person bound over for trial for, indicted for, or convicted of such an offense to submit
to a medical test for communicable diseases and to supply blood, feces, urine, saliva, or other
bodily fluid required for the test if the person’s blood, seminal fluid, urine, feces, saliva,
mucus, or vomit came into contact with any victim of the assault, peace officer, firefighter,
emergency medical care provider, or emergency medical service provider. Within ten days after
receipt of the medical test results, the defendant shall report the results to the court or the
court’s designee, who shall then disclose the results to any victim, peace officer, firefighter,
emergency medical care provider, or emergency medical service provider who came into contact with
the substance and requests such disclosure. Review and disclosure of medical test results by the
court must be closed and confidential, and any related transaction records are also closed and
confidential. If a person subject to a medical test for communicable diseases pursuant to this
paragraph (a) voluntarily submits to a medical test for communicable diseases, the fact of such
person’s voluntary submission is admissible in mitigation of sentence if the person is convicted of
the charged offense.
(b) In addition to any other penalty provided by law, the court may order any person who is
convicted of the offense described in subsection (1) of this section to meet all or any portion of
the financial obligations of medical tests performed on and treatment prescribed for the victim,
peace officer, firefighter, emergency medical care provider, or emergency medical service provider.
(c) Any person who receives the results of a medical test pursuant to this section shall not
publicly disclose the results.
(3) Assault in the third degree is a class 1 misdemeanor and is an extraordinary risk crime t at
is subject to the modified sentencing range specified in section 18-1.3-501 (3).
The Colorado Jury Instructions for the Most Commonly Charged Third Degree Assaults
ASSAULT IN THE THIRD DEGREE (KNOWINGLY OR RECKLESSLY)
The elements of the crime of assault in the third degree (knowingly or recklessly) are:
1. That the defendant,
2. in the State of Colorado, at or about the date and place charged,
3. knowingly or recklessly,
4. caused bodily injury to another person.
[5. and that the defendant’s conduct was not legally authorized by the affirmative defense[s] inInstruction[s] .]
ASSAULT IN THE THIRD DEGREE (NEGLIGENCE AND DEADLY WEAPON)
The elements of the crime of assault in the third degree (negligence and deadly weapon) are:
1. That the defendant,
2. in the State of Colorado, at or about the date and place charged,
3. with criminal negligence,
4. caused bodily injury to another person,
5. by means of a deadly weapon.
[6. and that the defendant’s conduct was not legally authorized by the affirmative defense[s] inInstruction[s] .]
