“Assault” – The Laws, Penalties & Defenses in Colorado

Under Colorado law, assault is unlawfully causing injury to another person. Assault can be a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the facts of the case. There are three degrees of assault (from most serious to least serious):

1. First-degree assault (18-3-202 C.R.S.): Intentionally causing serious injury with a deadly weapon.
2. Second-degree assault (18-3-203 C.R.S.): Intentionally causing serious injury without a deadly weapon.
3. Third-degree assault (18-3-204 C.R.S.): Negligently causing injury with a deadly weapon.

The following chart shows the sentencing ranges for each degree of assault.

In any case, the D.A. may be willing to reduce or even dismiss the charges as part of a plea bargain.

The following bubble graph shows various examples of actions that can result in assault charges:

Below our Denver criminal defense lawyers discuss:

• 1. What is Assault?
• 2. Degrees of Assault
• 3. Legal Defenses
• 4. Statutes of Limitations
• 5. Other Consequences
• 6. Vehicular Assault
• Additional Reading

Assault can be a felony or a misdemeanor in Colorado.

1. What is assault?

In Colorado, assault is unlawfully “causing bodily injury to another person.”¹ Some examples of types of assault include:

• Shooting, stabbing, or strangling;
• Punching, hitting, or slapping;
• Pushing, shoving, or kicking; or
• Throwing objects or acid at a person.

If a victim dies from an assault, you would instead face homicide charges.

Assault is different from menacing (18-3-206 C.R.S.). Menacing is putting someone in fear of being assaulted. An example is holding up a fist to someone and threatening to punch.

See our related article, What’s the difference between assault and menacing in Colorado?

2. Degrees of Assault

First-degree Assault (18-3-202 C.R.S.)

In Colorado, prosecutors must prove the following “elements of the crime” beyond a reasonable doubt to convict you of first-degree assault:

• You intentionally used a deadly weapon to seriously injure someone or
• You intentionally caused permanent disfigurement or disabling of organ function.

First-degree assault also includes extremely risky behavior that causes “serious bodily injury,” such as:

• Fractures;
• 2nd- or 3rd-degree burns; or
• A substantial risk of death, permanent disfigurement, or organ function impairment.

Example: Jeb has a new gun he wants to show off to his friend. He starts spinning it around on his finger, and it goes off accidentally. The bullet enters his friend’s stomach. Jeb had no intention to injure his friend, but his extremely risky behavior qualifies as first-degree assault.

A less common form of 1st-degree assault is using a deadly weapon to threaten an on-duty official (such as police, judges, or EMTs) with the intent to seriously injure them.² For this to be first-degree assault, you must know the victim is on-duty.

First degree assault is a class 3 felony carrying 10 to 32 years in prison and/or $3,000 to $750,000 in fines.³

Second-degree Assault (18-3-203 C.R.S.)

In Colorado, second-degree assault is when you either:

• Intentionally cause serious bodily injury without a deadly weapon;
• Recklessly cause serious bodily injury with a weapon;
• Intentionally drug someone without their consent; or
• Intentionally cause non-serious bodily injury (such as pain).

If the victim is an on-duty official, 2nd-degree assault also includes either:

• Intending or threatening to cause serious bodily injury to prevent the official from working; or
• Causing the official to touch bodily fluids or a toxic chemical, and you intend to harm the official.

Second-degree assault is a class 4 felony carrying five to 16 years in prison and/or $2,000 to $500,000 in fines.⁴

Third-degree Assault (18-3-204 C.R.S.)

In Colorado, third-degree assault occurs if either:

1. You knowingly or recklessly cause a non-serious bodily injury; or
2. You — acting with criminal negligence — cause a non-serious bodily injury by a deadly weapon.

Therefore, third-degree assault is when you act in a risky or careless way – not with intent to harm.

Third-degree assault is a class 1 misdemeanor carrying up to 18 months in jail and/or up to $1,000 in fines.⁵

3. Legal Defenses

Here at Colorado Legal Defense Group, we have represented literally thousands of people charged with assault. In our experience, the following seven defenses have proven very effective with prosecutors, judges, and juries at getting these charges dismissed:

1. You were acting in self-defense;
2. Any touching was accidental;
3. You were falsely accused;
4. You were entrapped;
5. You acted under duress;
6. You were a member of law enforcement executing your authorized duties; and/or
7. Your actions were justified by “legal necessity,” which means there was an emergency that threatened to cause public or private harm, and any reasonable person in your position would have acted the same way.

Typical evidence we rely on includes surveillance video, eyewitness accounts, and recorded communications (such as texts or voicemails) from the alleged victim.

We can also use expert medical witnesses to examine whether the alleged victim’s wounds might be self-inflicted. We have seen many cases where accusers harm themselves to back up their fake allegations.

Partial Defenses

A potential “partial defense” which could get your charge reduced to a lesser offense is that you committed the assault in the sudden heat of passion. This is when the victims’ actions would provoke any reasonable person to snap. The classic scenario is catching a spouse cheating and immediately attacking them.

The sudden heat of passion defense can knock a felony assault charge down by two classes. Therefore, a class 3 felony assault would become a class 5 felony. This carries:

• 1 – 3 years in Colorado State Prison, and/or
• A fine of $1,000 – $100,000.

Meanwhile, a class 4 felony assault done in the sudden heat of passion would be a class 6 felony. This carries:

• 1 year to 18 months in prison, and/or
• A fine of $1,000 – $100,000.⁶

Three other “partial defenses” that may get a charge reduced include:

1. You did not use a deadly weapon;
2. You did not know the victim was an on-duty official; or
3. You did not intentionally injure the victim.

Note that voluntary intoxication is not a defense. If you willingly drink, you are criminally liable for any assaults you commit while drunk.⁷

4. Statutes of Limitations

Colorado prosecutors have a three-year statute of limitations to bring felony assault charges. For misdemeanor assault cases, prosecutors have only 18 months to bring charges.⁸

5. Other Consequences

If the assault victim is your current or former spouse or dating partner, you face a domestic violence (DV) sentencing enhancement. The judge would issue a protection order against you, and you may have to undergo DV treatment as well.⁹

First-degree assault convictions may not be sealed from your criminal record in Colorado. However, if the charge gets dismissed, it can be sealed.

Assault can also be a deportable offense. So if you are a non-citizen convicted of assault, you can be thrown out of the U.S. following your sentence.

6. Vehicular Assault

Colorado law has a separate crime called vehicular assault (CRS § 18-3-205), which is causing someone “serious bodily injury” from reckless driving or intoxicated driving.

The following chart lays out the penalties.

Common evidence in these cases includes police dashcam or bodycam video, surveillance video, eyewitness accounts, GPS records, and breath/blood test results.

Additional Reading

For more in-depth information, refer to these informational articles:

• Assault and Battery by the Reckless Motorist – American Institute of Criminal Law & Criminology.
• Not So Simple: How Simple Assault and Battery Became Distorted in the Context of Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude – Washburn Law Journal.
• Battery without Assault – Army Law.
• Assault and Battery (Wife vs. Husband) – University Law Review.
• Provocation–Assault and Battery as Sufficient Provocation to Reduce an Intentional Homicide to Manslaughter – Kentucky Law Journal.

Legal references: