Monday, February 13, 2012

Colorado Supreme Court Montez v. People 10SC294

Decision here.

   The facts: Montez broke into a house, where he stole some money and a gun case with two unloaded shotguns.  He was arrested and convicted of first degree burglary and possession of a weapon by a previous offender.  The first degree burglary was based on his being armed with deadly weapons (the shotguns).

   Montez appealed his conviction, saying that Colorado law only classifies firearms as deadly weapons when they are intended to be used to produce death or serious bodily injury.  18-1-901(3)(e) defines "deadly weapon:"

"Deadly weapon" means any of the following which in the manner it is
used or  intended to be used is capable of producing death or serious
bodily injury:
(I) A firearm, whether loaded or unloaded;
(II) A knife;
(III) A bludgeon;
(IV) Any other weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance,
whether animate or inanimate

   The prosecution argues that "intended to be used" refers to the manufacturer's intent, not the defendant's intent.

   The ruling: The Court holds that "intended to be used" refers to the defendant's intent.  Therefore, there is no per se rule in statute designating firearms, knives, or anything else as a deadly weapon; it depends on what the suspect was doing with the item in question.  In this case, Montez was carrying them unloaded in a gun case, and never did anything with them to indicate that he intended to use them as weapons.  Montez's conviction for first degree burglary was vacated, and the case was remanded back to the trial court with orders to enter a conviction of second degree burglary (since all the elements of that crime had already been proven beyond reasonable doubt in order to obtain the first degree burglary conviction).

3 comments:

  1. An afterthought for me on this one... wonder what this case will do to cases where someone gets busted for CCW when they had a big folding knife in their pocket?

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    Replies
    1. Never mind. I re-read the CCW statute. The CCW statute doesn't contain the phrase "deadly weapons," it refers specifically to knives and firearms (which are defined in terms that don't refer to anyone's intent).

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  2. Since this decision, the definition of deadly weapon in the statute has been changed. Now, firearms (loaded or unloaded) are deadly weapons per se, and knives/bludgeons/what-have-you are deadly weapons when used or intended to be used in a manner capable of producing death or serious bodily injury.

    So it looks like the general assembly didn't like this decision, and they have now voted to render it inapplicable.

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