Riley v. People
266 P.3d 1089
Colo.2011Background
- Riley involved in a verbal confrontation at EZ Market with Peelman, after which Velasquez and Peelman confronted him outside.
- Velasquez and Riley wrestled; Velasquez told Peelman to grab a gun; Riley believed 'heat' meant a gun.
- Riley drew a knife, stabbed Velasquez in the neck, grazed Peelman, and then fled after Velasquez urged Peelman to run.
- Riley was charged with attempted second-degree murder (Velasquez), first-degree assault (Velasquez), menacing (Peelman), attempted second-degree assault (Peelman), and a crime of violence.
- Riley argued self-defense against both Velasquez and Peelman and tendered a multiple-assailants self-defense instruction; the court rejected it.
- The trial court gave an apparent-necessity instruction and a standard self-defense instruction; jury returned convictions on lesser charges related to Velasquez and a crime-of-violence enhancement.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether trial court erred by rejecting Riley's multi-assailants instruction | Riley contends Jones requires multi-assailants instruction. | State argues existing instructions, read together, sufficed under Jones. | No reversible error; instructions adequate when read together. |
| Whether Jones requires a specific multi-assailants instruction | Jones requires explicit multi-assailants framing in self-defense. | Jones does not require a separate instruction in every case. | Jones does not mandate a stand-alone multi-assailants instruction; totality of instructions sufficed. |
| Whether Instructions 20 and 21 properly stated self-defense in a multi-assailant context | Alternative instruction was necessary to cover multiple threats. | Instructions 20 and 21, together, captured the law and the totality approach. | Instructions 20 and 21 were sufficient under Jones when read together. |
Key Cases Cited
- People v. Jones, 675 P.2d 9 (Colo.1984) (totality of circumstances include number of apparent assailants for self-defense)
- Beckett v. People, 800 P.2d 74 (Colo.1990) (statutory 'reasonable belief' language suffices; apparent-necessity instruction not required)
- Manzanares v. People, 942 P.2d 1235 (Colo.App.1996) (pattern self-defense instruction alone insufficient in multi-assailant cases; need totality instruction)
- Cuevas v. People, 740 P.2d 25 (Colo.App.1987) (self-defense instruction should reflect multiple assailants in appropriate cases)
- Trujillo v. People, 83 P.3d 642 (Colo.2004) (reviewing completeness of jury instructions together to inform law)
- Nunez v. People, 841 P.2d 261 (Colo.1992) (instruction on defendant's theory of defense must not duplicate other instructions)