Disrupting Lawful Assembly in Colorado
Disrupting lawful assembly charges commonly arise in the context of protests or demonstrations. While members of the public generally have the right to participate in public assemblies, the law prohibits a person from significantly obstructing or interfering with the assembly.
In Colorado, disrupting lawful assembly can be charged as a petty or misdemeanor offense. Disrupting lawful assembly is defined in 18-9-108. The Colorado disrupting lawful assembly statute defines the offense as follows:
C.R.S. Section 18-9-108 Colorado’s Disrupting Lawful Assembly Statute
(1) A person commits disrupting lawful assembly if, intending to prevent or disrupt any lawful meeting, procession, or gathering, he significantly obstructs or interferes with the meeting, procession, or gathering by physical action, verbal utterance, or any other means.
(2) Disrupting lawful assembly is a petty offense; except that, if the actor knows the meeting, procession, or gathering is a funeral, it is a class 2 misdemeanor.
Possible Penalties for Disrupting Lawful Assembly in Colorado
Regardless of the whether the offense is charged as a petty or misdemeanor disrupting lawful assembly offense, the possible penalties for a conviction include possible fines, restitution, probation, or jail. Additionally, a disrupting lawful assembly conviction can result in serious collateral consequences including employment consequences, child custody consequences, housing consequences, immigration consequences, and many other civil consequences that can flow from a disrupting lawful assembly conviction.
Rights & Liberties Law Firm has assembled a possible penalties chart to help you better understand the possible penalties a person charged with disrupting lawful assembly in Colorado will face.
Degree of OFFENSE
Disrupting lawful assembly 18-9-108
Disrupting lawful assembly 18-9-108 (funeral processions)
Possible Penalties
Petty Offense
- Up to 10 days in jail; and/or
- $300 fine;
- Restitution
Class 2 Misdemeanor
- Up to 120 days in jail; or
- Probation; and/or
- $750 fine;
- Restitution
Degree of OFFENSE
Disrupting lawful assembly 18-9-108
Disrupting lawful assembly 18-9-108 (funeral processions)
Possible Penalties
Petty Offense
- Up to 10 days in jail; and/or
- $300 fine;
- Restitution
Class 2 Misdemeanor
- Up to 120 days in jail; or
- Probation; and/or
- $750 fine;
- Restitution
Defenses to Disrupting Lawful Assembly in Colorado
General Denial
The accused will be acquitted if the prosecution cannot prove every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. When the accused raises a general denial defense, the accused denies that the criminal elements of the offense exist. General denial is related to the failure of proof defense. The failure of proof defense arises when the accused pokes holes in the prosecution’s case and argues that the prosecution failed to prove each and every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt.
Lack of Intent
The lack of intent defense to disrupting lawful assembly is a general denial defense that attacks the mental state element of the offense, the intent element of disrupting lawful assembly charge. The accused can raise this defense to argue that although the accused may have been at the assembly and may have engaged in conduct that gave rise to the alleged disruption, the accused did not have the intent to prevent or disrupt the assembly.
No significant obstruction or interference
Similarly, the no significant obstruction or interference defense to disrupting lawful assembly is a general denial defense that attacks the actus reus (the act or conduct that the prosecution must prove) element of disrupting lawful assembly charge. The accused can raise this defense to argue that although the accused may have been at the assembly and may have engaged in conduct that gave rise to the alleged disruption, the accused’s acts or conduct did not rise to the level of significantly obstructing or interfering with the assembly.
First Amendment – Free Speech, Right to Assemble, and Protest Defense to Disrupting Lawful Assembly
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Art. II. Section 7 of the Colorado Constitution protects an individual’s right to freedom of speech and the right to peaceably assemble. These rights are instrumental in allowing citizens to express their views and to protest without fear of government interference.
The right to peaceful protest is closely tied to the freedom of speech. This means that individuals have the right to express their views, even if they are controversial or unpopular, without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to assemble peaceably is also protected, allowing people to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their ideas.
In the context of disrupting lawful assembly, the accused can raise a free speech, right to assemble and protest defense. This would involve arguing that the actions taken were a form of protected speech or assembly. This defense involves a complex fact specific inquiry the depends heavily on the details of the case, including the nature of the disruption, the intent of the individual, and the impact on the assembly. In certain circumstances, the First Amendment can be a powerful defense to disrupting lawful assembly charges.
Mistaken Identity
Mistaken identity is a general denial defense that attacks the element of who committed the alleged offense. As the prosecution is required not only to prove that the offense happened, but that the person charged committed the offense, the mistaken identity defense can be an effective way to challenge the prosecution on the element of who committed the crime. In the context of a disrupting lawful assembly case, mistaken identify defenses usually arise when the accused is arrested and charged with disobedience to public safety orders in riot conditions after the alleged offense happened or when the accused is identified after a chaotic situation where eyewitness accounts are not trustworthy. Mistaken identity cases often involve witness misidentification issues, poor witness perception issues, inaccurate, improper, or biased police identification procedures, grainy surveillance videos, and mistaken eyewitness accounts.
Alternate Suspect
The alternate suspect defense occasionally arises in disrupting lawful assembly cases. When the accused raises the alternate suspect defense, he or she does so to cast doubt on the identity element of the offense. In other words, the alternate suspect defense is used to cast doubt on the prosecution’s evidence that the accused committed the crime. By raising the alternate suspect defense, the accused casts doubt on the identity element of offense by raising the possibility that another person committed the offense rather than the accused. In Colorado disrupting lawful assembly trials the admissibility of alternate suspect evidence will depend on “the strength of the connection between the alternate suspect and the charged crime. If there is a non-speculative connection or nexus between the alternate suspect and the crime charged, the evidence will be admissible.”
If the defense introduces “alternate suspect” evidence, the judge must “look to whether all the similar acts and circumstances, taken together, support a finding that the same person was probably involved in both the other act and the charged crime.” If the judge finds that the accused has presented evidence sufficient to support a finding that an alternate suspect committed the crime, the accused can have the jury consider this evidence in their deliberations. While the alternate suspect defense is seldom used in disrupting lawful assembly cases, certain circumstances will give rise to the availability of this defense.
Duress
Under Colorado’s duress statute C.R.S. 18-1-708, a person may not be convicted of an offense, other than a class 1 felony, based upon conduct in which he engaged at the direction of another person because of the use or threatened use of unlawful force upon him or upon another person, which force or threatened use thereof a reasonable person in his situation would have been unable to resist. This defense is not available when a person intentionally or recklessly places himself in a situation in which it is foreseeable that he will be subjected to such force or threatened use thereof. The choice of evils defense, provided in section 18-1-702, shall not be available to a defendant in addition to the defense of duress provided under this section unless separate facts exist which warrant its application.
Choice of Evils
Under Colorado’s choice of evils statute, C.R.S. 18-1-702 (1) conduct which would otherwise constitute an offense is justifiable and not criminal when it is necessary as an emergency measure to avoid an imminent public or private injury which is about to occur by reason of a situation occasioned or developed through no conduct of the actor, and which is of sufficient gravity that, according to ordinary standards of intelligence and morality, the desirability and urgency of avoiding the injury clearly outweigh the desirability of avoiding the injury sought to be prevented by the statute defining the offense in issue.
(2) The necessity and justifiability of conduct under subsection (1) of this section shall not rest upon considerations pertaining only to the morality and advisability of the statute, either in its general application or with respect to its application to a particular class of cases arising thereunder. When evidence relating to the defense of justification under this section is offered by the defendant, before it is submitted for the consideration of the jury, the court shall first rule as a matter of law whether the claimed facts and circumstances would, if established, constitute a justification.
Statute of Limitations for disrupting lawful assembly in Colorado
In Colorado the statute of limitations for commencing criminal charges against a person is governed by C.R.S. Section 16-5-401. The statute of limitations for commencing criminal charges for disrupting lawful assembly in Colorado is as follows:
- Misdemeanor disrupting lawful assembly charges must be filed with 18 months. C.R.S. 16-5-401(1)(a.5)
- Petty disrupting lawful assembly charges must be filed within 6 months. C.R.S. 16-5-401(1)(a.5)
Contact the experienced attorneys at Rights & Liberties Law Firm to Fight for You Today
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