A Niwot High School teacher was put on administrative leave and arrested for one count of 2nd Degree Assault and one count of 3rd Degree Assault after a physical altercation with a 17-year-old student. According to the news report, the teacher was getting upset with his students use of profanity and told them that the next person who used inappropriate language would get in trouble. Apparently, that trouble was a criminal act. One student continued to use profanity and the teacher put pressure on his larynx, causing the student to struggle to breathe. Then the teacher allegedly kneed the student in the groin. Each physical interaction was charged as a crime.
Larimer County Assault in the Second Degree Lawyer: What is the Definition of 2nd Degree Assault?
The Colorado law definition of Assault in the Second Degree – C.R.S. 18-3-203(1)(i) – is:
While the definition of 2nd Degree Assault has many different elements, part (i) is what fits best with the above situation. As an extraordinary risk, class 4 felony crime of violence in Larimer, Boulder, and Grand County, 2nd Degree Assault is punishable by 5 to 16 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections.
Fort Collins 3rd Degree Assault Lawyer: What is the Definition of Assault in the Third Degree?
The Colorado law definition of Assault in the Third Degree – C.R.S. 18-3-204 – is:
(a) The person knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury to another person or with criminal negligence the person causes bodily injury to another person by means of a deadly weapon; or
(b) The person, with intent to harass, annoy, threaten, or alarm another person whom the actor knows or reasonably should know to be a peace officer, a firefighter, an emergency medical care provider, or an emergency medical service provider, causes the other person to come into contact with blood, seminal fluid, urine, feces, saliva, mucus, vomit, or toxic, caustic, or hazardous material by any means, including throwing, tossing, or expelling the fluid or material.
All a ‘victim’ has to do is claim that they felt some sort of physical pain to get a person charged with this crime. When the teacher kneed the student in the groin, he claimed to have felt physical pain and therefore the teacher was charged with this extraordinary risk class 1 misdemeanor. In Fort Collins, Loveland, and Estes Park, 3rd Degree Assault is punishable by 6 to 24 months in the Larimer County Jail.