Opinion ID: 2629212
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Defense Instructions in this Case

Text: The court of appeals erred in not examining the jury instructions in their entirety. In arguing that the trial court should have instructed the jury on the two offenses of resisting arrest and reckless endangerment, the court of appeals reasoned that, an instruction embodying a defendant's theory of the case must be given by the trial court if the record contains any evidence to support the theory, and it is undisputed that sufficient evidence supported [giving] them. Trujillo, 62 P.3d at 1036. When we consider all the jury instructions given, the jury was fully informed of Trujillo's theory of defense that he lacked the specific intent to commit first-degree assault and should be convicted of lesser non-included misdemeanor offenses. At both trials, Trujillo admitted that he shot the gun, but argued that he did so because he thought someone was illegally breaking into his home. Throughout the trial, and his closing argument, defense counsel argued that Trujillo lacked the specific intent necessary to convict Trujillo of first-degree assault. [4] During Trujillo's closing arguments, defense counsel argued that Trujillo did not intend to shoot the police officers. Specifically, defense counsel explained in the second trial that Trujillo believed someone was breaking into his home and he acted in defense of him, of his mom, his brother, their home. Defense counsel told the jury Trujillo's version of events: What does the evidence suggest? Police officers come to the back door. They start removing the screen from its closer, and somehow the door starts getting pried open. That would be cause for concern if you were down in this area of the basement. No one else has a firearm in the house, but Mr. Trujillo does, and he gets his rifle. There are muffled voices. The other strange thing is his dog, isn't reacting. Something's not right. Smash, and then another smash, the glass falls and he shoots. Do you think he really had the time or the ability to form an intention? Were there really bullets with these individual four officers' names on them that he had the specific intent to cause serious bodily injury? How would that work? He can't see. (emphasis added). In the third trial defense counsel made similar arguments: But there's at least one more major issue and that is the issue of intent. Because in order to prove up their case, you know, they have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Henry Trujillo in-in firing these rounds ... that he had formed in his mind the specific intent to do a specific thing to four specific officers. How could that be under these circumstances? How could that ever be? ... You know, if you suffer a home invasion, you know, if you don't think something's going to happen right away, you might be tempted to fire a warning shot and instead having to resort to actually shooting a person. How is that bad? The main thrust of the closing arguments was to rebut the argument that Trujillo had the specific intent to shoot the police officers. Defense counsel did not refer to or rely on any lesser offenses in his closing argument at either trial. When we consider the jury instructions in their entirety, the trial court's jury instructions adequately encompassed Trujillo's theory of defense. In support of his theory of defense, Trujillo requested that the trial court instruct the jury on resisting arrest and reckless endangerment, the two misdemeanors upon which he was convicted in his second trial. A defendant may be convicted of resisting arrest if the jury finds that the defendant, knowingly prevent[ed] or attempt[ed] to prevent a peace officer, acting under color of his official authority, from effecting an arrest of the actor or another, by: (a) [u]sing or threatening to use physical force or violence against the peace officer or another. § 18-8-103(a). To convict a defendant of reckless endangerment, the jury must find that the defendant recklessly engaged in conduct which created a substantial risk of serious bodily injury to another person. § 18-3-208. Giving these instructions would permit the jury to find that Trujillo lacked the specific intent to injure the police officers but still committed a lesser crime that is supported by the facts. The trial court refused these two instructions but granted Trujillo's alternative jury instructions on obstructing a peace officer and prohibited use of a weapon. The jury instruction for obstructing a peace officer requires the jury to find that the defendant knowingly prevented or attempted to prevent a peace officer, acting under the color of his official authority, from effecting an arrest of the defendant by using or threatening to use physical force against the peace officer. § 18-8-104(1). The crimes of resisting arrest and obstructing a police officer are similar. Like a resisting arrest instruction, the instruction for obstructing a peace officer permitted the jury to convict Trujillo of a lesser crime, based on finding similar facts. Likewise, the jury instruction for prohibited use of a weapon requires the jury to find that the defendant, recklessly or with criminal negligence, discharged a firearm. § 18-12-106. This misdemeanor offense instruction, which the court actually gave, permitted the jury to find that Trujillo did not have the specific intent to cause serious bodily injury as first-degree assault requires, but recklessly fired his gun. The reckless endangerment instruction that the trial court refused and this instruction are similar in that both provide the jury with an option to convict Trujillo of a lesser non-included misdemeanor offense if the jury finds that Trujillo acted recklessly rather than with the requisite intent under the facts of this case. In terms of how these lesser non-included offenses conveyed Trujillo's theory of defense, we detect no meaningful difference between the lesser non-included offenses given and those rejected. Further, we find no argument in the record that suggests any difference. Thus, we conclude that the instructions on obstructing a peace officer and the prohibited use of a weapon instruction provided Trujillo with lesser offense instructions reflecting his theory of defense to the same extent as did the instructions on resisting arrest and reckless endangerment the trial court gave at the previous trial. In addition, the Colorado Criminal Code contains affirmative defenses to first-degree assault. § 18-1-704.5 (use of deadly force against an intruder); § 18-1-705 (use of physical force in defense of premises); § 18-1-706 (use of physical force in defense of property). The trial court found that sufficient evidence existed to instruct the jury on these three affirmative defenses. Each affirmative defense instruction permitted the jury to acquit Trujillo of the first-degree specific intent crime, if the jury found that he had a justification for using physical force upon another person, i.e. a police officer. [5] The trial court also instructed the jury, over the prosecution's objection, that Trujillo testified at a prior hearing that he did not know who was breaking into his home and he had no intention of shooting the police officers. [6] Taken together, the jury instructions actually given in the third trial encompassed Trujillo's theory of defense; that he was justified in shooting the gun in his home and he lacked the specific intent required for a conviction of first-degree assault. The affirmative defense instructions permitted the jury to find that Trujillo had a justification for creating a substantial risk of serious bodily injury and gave the jury an opportunity to acquit Trujillo. The lesser non-included misdemeanor offense instructions the trial court actually gave provided the jury with an option to convict Trujillo only of these lesser offenses if it found that he acted recklessly rather than with the requisite intent. Thus, the instructions on the lesser offenses addressed the concern, that if a trial court does not instruct a jury on a lesser offense, then the jury will think it had no option but to convict on the greater offense. The jury found Trujillo guilty of the two misdemeanor offenses, as well as the first-degree assault charges. If the jurors had accepted Trujillo's argument that he was reacting to protect himself from an intruder into his home, or that he should be guilty of only the non-included offense charges, the jurors would not have convicted him on the first-degree assault charges. We presume that a jury follows the trial court's instructions and would acquit of the greater offense if the prosecution did not prove all of the elements of the assault charge beyond a reasonable doubt. See People v. Harlan, 8 P.3d 448, 473 (Colo.2000). Based on the evidence, the jury found specific intent in finding Trujillo guilty of the first-degree assault charges, despite his presentation to the contrary. The trial court afforded Trujillo due process of law by instructing the jury on his alternative tendered instructions, three affirmative defenses, and Trujillo's statement prior to trial that he did not know who was breaking the door open and did not intend to shoot at the police officers. Accordingly, the jury instructions on retrial of the first-degree assault charges did not violate Trujillo's due process rights. We need not address the double jeopardy arguments in light of our resolution of this appeal.