Court Opinion

ID: 9551076
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 18:47:25.881886+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:23:01.385589
License: Public Domain

LOHR, Justice,
specially concurring:
I agree with the majority that the prosecution presented sufficient evidence so that a jury could find that the defendant’s conduct constituted a substantial step towards commission of the crime of extreme indifference murder, in accordance with the requirements of the substantial step element of the crime of attempted extreme indifference murder as analyzed in People v. Castro, 657 P.2d 932, 941 (Colo.1983). I write separately only to emphasize that this appeal presents a narrow issue of the sufficiency of the evidence to satisfy the substantial step element of the crime. Not presented as issues by the parties, and thus properly not addressed in the majority opinion, are matters concerning the constitutionality and construction of the statute and the sufficiency of the evidence to satisfy other elements of the crime. My reason for emphasizing the issues not involved in this appeal is that complex questions concerning the validity, construction and application of the statute exist.' In resolving this case, we are not called upon to answer those questions and should not be understood to take a position concerning them.
First, the parties have not presented an issue as to the constitutionality of the current extreme indifference murder statute, section 18 — 3—102(l)(d), 8 C.R.S. (1985 Supp.). In People v. Marcy, 628 P.2d 69 (Colo.1981), we held that an earlier version of that statute was unconstitutional as a violation of equal protection of the laws because there was no legally significant distinction between first degree murder by extreme indifference and the lesser offense of second degree murder. The extreme indifference murder statute was amended to its present form in 1981 after the issuance of our opinion in People v. Marcy. Ch. 212, section 4, § 18-3-102(l)(d), 1981 Colo.Sess. Laws 972, 973. It appears likely that the amendment represents an attempt by the legislature to cure the constitutional problems exposed in People v. Marcy. We have never analyzed the constitutionality of the 1981 revision of the statute. However, we are not called upon to address that issue in the present case as the defendant did not challenge the constitutionality of the extreme indifference murder statute.
Second, this appeal does not present an issue as to the proper construction and application of the requirement in the present statute that the circumstances surrounding the actor’s conduct must evidence an attitude of “universal malice.” In the 1981 amendment, among other changes, the legislature added the concept of “universal malice” to the definition of the crime of extreme indifference murder. We have not analyzed the meaning of “universal malice” in the context of this current version of the statute. We have stated before that “[ujniversal malice is evinced by acts which are ‘calculated to put the lives of many persons in jeopardy without being aimed at anyone in particular.’ ” People v. Jones, 193 Colo. 250, 254 n. 5, 565 P.2d 1333, 1336 n. 5 (1977), quoting from Longinotti v. People, 46 Colo. 173, 177, 102 P. 165, 167 (1909). In People v. Jones, which involved a review of a conviction for extreme indifference murder under a prior version of the present statute, we held that the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction even though the defendant’s conduct was directed towards a single person. We concluded that the extreme indifference *1354murder statute as it was then constituted prohibited conduct that greatly endangered only a single person because the statute proscribed “conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person.” 193 Colo. at 254, 565 P.2d at 1336 (emphasis in the original). We implicitly rejected an argument that universal malice was a required element of the crime. However, the statute has now been amended to incorporate explicitly a “universal malice” requirement. This raises the obvious question whether a person still can be convicted of an offense under the statute if his conduct and intent are directed only towards a particular person. Again, however, the parties did not raise that issue before the district court or on appeal.
Finally, in this appeal the parties have not questioned the sufficiency of the evidence to establish that Ramos had the necessary mental state at the time the alleged offense took place. As noted in the majority opinion, one element of the crime of attempted extreme indifference murder requires conduct by the actor that constitutes a substantial step towards the commission of the completed crime of extreme indifference murder. In People v. Castro, we characterized the substantial step requirement' of attempted extreme indifference murder as “conduct which poses a real and proximate risk of death to the victim.” 657 P.2d at 941. In granting the defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal in the present case, the district court concluded that the evidence was not sufficient for a jury to conclude that Ramos’ conduct posed a real and proximate risk of death to Orr. The majority properly sets aside this ruling for the reasons given.
However, another element of the crime of attempted extreme indifference murder describes, in part, the culpable mental state required for the commission of the offense. This element requires that the defendant “knowingly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person, or persons, other than himself.” § 18-3-102(l)(d), 8 C.R.S. (1985 Supp.). In People v. Marcy, we held that the culpable mental state described by the statute required an awareness on the part of the offender that his actions were “practically certain to cause the death of another.” 628 P.2d at 78, 79. Accord People v. Castro, 657 P.2d at 940 (attempted extreme indifference murder). Conduct “practically certain to cause death” — part of the mens rea requirement — is not the same as, and is a higher standard than, conduct that creates “a real and proximate risk of death” — an integral part of the substantial step element. However, the parties have not raised an issue as to the sufficiency of the evidence to satisfy this mens rea requirement. The majority properly avoids these questions.
I concur in the opinion of the court, with the understanding that it quite correctly does not resolve any issues concerning the validity or construction of the extreme indifference murder statute except the one specifically addressed.
I am authorized to say that Justice NEIGHBORS joins this special concurrence.