Court Opinion

ID: 9571650
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:33:52.798757+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:30:45.274444
License: Public Domain

TURSI, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
In the original amended information the People attempted to charge under § 18 — 3— 203(l)(c), C.R.S.1973 (1978 Repl.Vol. 8), but the information did not allege that defendant committed the charged acts with the intent to prevent a peace officer from performing a lawful duty. The emphasized language is a material element of § 18 — 3— 203(l)(c). In the absence of this element, defendant is not charged with second degree assault, which is a class 4 felony. The information at best charges defendant with resisting arrest, see § 18-8-103, C.R.S.1973 (1978 Repl.Vol. 8), which is a class 2 misdemeanor.
The People argue that the subsequent amendment was one of form only because defendant was well aware that he was being charged with second degree assault. However, while it may be true that defendant was aware, under the circumstances, that he was being bound over on second degree assault, that fact does not render the information sufficient. There are six distinct methods, pursuant to § 18-3-203, C.R.S.1973 (1978 Repl.Vol. 8), in which a person may commit second degree assault. The sufficiency of an information must be determined by consideration of it standing alone and without regard to surrounding circumstances. See People v. Moore, 200 Colo. 481, 615 P.2d 726 (1980) (count of information must be judged independent of other counts and must itself charge a distinct offense); Bustamante v. People, 136 Colo. 362, 317 P.2d 885 (1957).
The People have not produced any authority that the failure to include a material statutory element of a crime is mere form and not substance. Further, when, as here, the effect of the amendment is to increase substantially the severity of the punishment to which defendant is subjected, then even amendments as to form are not permissible. Crim.P. 7(e); People v. Johnson, 644 P.2d 34 (Colo.App.1980), aff’d *406on other grounds sub nom., Gimmy v. People, 645 P.2d 262 (Colo.1982).
Finally, I find no merit in the People’s argument that defendant has waived his right to object to any defect in the original amended information. The rationale of People v. Dickinson, 197 Colo. 338, 592 P.2d 807 (1979), relied on by the People, is inapposite. The defect in Dickinson was in the form which charged driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor' or drugs disjunctively. In People v. Hertz, 196 Colo. 259, 586 P.2d 5 (1978), the court held this to be mere surplusage and thus a matter of form. The defect here is one of inadequacy of the charge, not one of sur-plusage. See Crim.P. 12(b)(2); Mora v. People, 172 Colo. 261, 472 P.2d 142 (1970).
Since the original amended information failed to charge the offense upon which defendant stands convicted, and since the trial court erred in allowing the subsequent amendment, defendant’s conviction for second degree assault should be reversed.