Colorado Code § 18-3-203

Assault in the second degree
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(1) A person commits the crime of assault in
the second degree if:
(a) Repealed.
(b) With intent to cause bodily injury to another person, he or she causes such injury to
any person by means of a deadly weapon; or
(c) With intent to prevent one whom he or she knows, or should know, to be a peace
officer, firefighter, emergency medical care provider, or emergency medical service provider
from performing a lawful duty, he or she intentionally causes bodily injury to any person; or
(c.5) With intent to prevent one whom he or she knows, or should know, to be a peace
officer, firefighter, or emergency medical service provider from performing a lawful duty, he or
she intentionally causes serious bodily injury to any person; or
(d) He recklessly causes serious bodily injury to another person by means of a deadly
weapon; or
(e) For a purpose other than lawful medical or therapeutic treatment, he intentionally
causes stupor, unconsciousness, or other physical or mental impairment or injury to another
person by administering to him, without his consent, a drug, substance, or preparation capable of
producing the intended harm; or
(f) While lawfully confined or in custody, he or she knowingly and violently applies
physical force against the person of a peace officer, firefighter, or emergency medical service
provider engaged in the performance of his or her duties, or a judge of a court of competent
jurisdiction, or an officer of said court, or, while lawfully confined or in custody as a result of
being charged with or convicted of a crime or as a result of being charged as a delinquent child
or adjudicated as a delinquent child, he or she knowingly and violently applies physical force
against a person engaged in the performance of his or her duties while employed by or under
contract with a detention facility, as defined in section 18-8-203 (3), or while employed by the
division in the department of human services responsible for youth services and who is a youth
services counselor or is in the youth services worker classification series, and the person
committing the offense knows or reasonably should know that the victim is a peace officer,
firefighter, or emergency medical service provider engaged in the performance of his or her
duties, or a judge of a court of competent jurisdiction, or an officer of said court, or a person
engaged in the performance of his or her duties while employed by or under contract with a
detention facility or while employed by the division in the department of human services
responsible for youth services. A sentence imposed pursuant to this paragraph (f) shall be served
in the department of corrections and shall run consecutively with any sentences being served by
the offender; except that, if the offense is committed against a person employed by the division
in the department of human services responsible for youth services, the court may grant
probation or a suspended sentence in whole or in part, and the sentence may run concurrently or
consecutively with any sentences being served. A person who participates in a work release
program, a furlough, or any other similar authorized supervised or unsupervised absence from a
detention facility, as defined in section 18-8-203 (3), and who is required to report back to the
detention facility at a specified time is deemed to be in custody.
(f.5) (I) While lawfully confined in a detention facility within this state, an actor with
intent to infect, injure, or harm a person in a detention facility whom the actor knows or
reasonably should know to be an employee of a detention facility, causes such employee to come
into contact with blood, seminal fluid, urine, feces, saliva, mucus, vomit, or any toxic, caustic, or
hazardous material by any means, including, but not limited to, throwing, tossing, or expelling
such fluid or material.
(II) Repealed.
(III) (A) As used in this paragraph (f.5), "detention facility" means any building,
structure, enclosure, vehicle, institution, or place, whether permanent or temporary, fixed or
mobile, where persons are or may be lawfully held in custody or confinement under the authority
of the state of Colorado or any political subdivision of the state of Colorado.
(B) As used in this paragraph (f.5), "employee of a detention facility" includes
employees of the department of corrections, employees of any agency or person operating a
detention facility, law enforcement personnel, and any other persons who are present in or in the
vicinity of a detention facility and are performing services for a detention facility. "Employee of
a detention facility" does not include a person lawfully confined in a detention facility.
(g) With intent to cause bodily injury to another person, he or she causes serious bodily
injury to that person or another; or
(h) With intent to infect, injure, or harm another person whom the actor knows or
reasonably should know to be engaged in the performance of his or her duties as a peace officer,
a firefighter, an emergency medical care provider, or an emergency medical service provider, he
or she causes such person to come into contact with blood, seminal fluid, urine, feces, saliva,
mucus, vomit, or any toxic, caustic, or hazardous material by any means, including by throwing,
tossing, or expelling such fluid or material; or
(i) With the intent to cause bodily injury, he or she applies sufficient pressure to impede
or restrict the breathing or circulation of the blood of another person by applying such pressure
to the neck or by blocking the nose or mouth of the other person and thereby causes bodily
injury.
(2) (a) If assault in the second degree is committed under circumstances where the act
causing the injury is performed upon a sudden heat of passion, caused by a serious and highly
provoking act of the intended victim, affecting the person causing the injury sufficiently to excite
an irresistible passion in a reasonable person, and without an interval between the provocation
and the injury sufficient for the voice of reason and humanity to be heard, it is a class 6 felony.
(b) If assault in the second degree is committed without the circumstances provided in
paragraph (a) of this subsection (2), it is a class 4 felony.
(b.5) Assault in the second degree by any person under subsection (1) of this section
without the circumstances provided in paragraph (a) of this subsection (2) is a class 3 felony if
the person who is assaulted, other than a participant in the crime, suffered serious bodily injury
during the commission or attempted commission of or flight from the commission or attempted
commission of murder, robbery, arson, burglary, escape, kidnapping in the first degree, sexual
assault, sexual assault in the first or second degree as such offenses existed prior to July 1, 2000,
or class 3 felony sexual assault on a child.
(c) (I) If a defendant is convicted of assault in the second degree pursuant to subsection
(2)(b.5) of this section, except with respect to sexual assault or sexual assault in the first degree
as it existed prior to July 1, 2000, the court shall sentence the defendant in accordance with the
provisions of section 18-1.3-406. A defendant convicted of assault in the second degree pursuant
to paragraph (b.5) of this subsection (2) with respect to sexual assault or sexual assault in the
first degree as it existed prior to July 1, 2000, shall be sentenced in accordance with section 18-
1.3-401 (8)(e) or (8)(e.5).
(II) If a defendant is convicted of assault in the second degree pursuant to subsection
(1)(b), (1)(c.5), (1)(d), or (1)(g) of this section, the court shall sentence the defendant in
accordance with section 18-1.3-406; except that, notwithstanding the provisions of section 18-
1.3-406, the court is not required to sentence the defendant to the department of corrections for a
mandatory term of incarceration.
(d) For purposes of determining sudden heat of passion pursuant to subsection (2)(a) of
this section, a defendant's act does not constitute an act performed upon a sudden heat of passion
if it results solely from the discovery of, knowledge about, or potential disclosure of the victim's
actual or perceived gender, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation, including
but not limited to under circumstances in which the victim made an unwanted nonforcible
romantic or sexual advance toward the defendant.
(3) Repealed.

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