What does Murder in the Second Degree mean?

• Murder in the Second Degree is when a person knowingly kills another person.

• Murder in the Second Degree can also be charged when a person kills another person when they commit or attempts to commit a felony Arson, Robbery, Kidnapping, sexual assault or sexual assault on a child, or a felony escape.

• Murder in the Second Degree is a Class 2 Felony, which carries a penalty of up to 16 - 48 years in the Department of Corrections, and a fine of up to $1,000,000.

• If Murder in the Second Degree is committed in the heat of passion, the charge is a Class 3 Felony, which carriees a penalty of up to 12 years in the Department of Corrections, and a fine of up to $750,000.

C.R.S. 18-3-103 - Murder in the Second Degree

(1) A person commits the crime of murder in the second degree if:

(a) The person knowingly causes the death of a person; or

(b) Acting either alone or with one or more persons, he or she commits or attempts to commit felony arson, robbery, burglary, kidnapping, sexual assault as prohibited by section 18-3-402, sexual assault in the first or second degree as prohibited by section 18-3-402 or 18-3-403, as those sections existed prior to July 1, 2000, or a class 3 felony for sexual assault on a child as provided in section 18-3-405 (2), or the felony crime of escape as provided in section 18-8-208, and, in the course of or in furtherance of the crime that he or she is committing or attempting to commit, or of immediate flight therefrom, the death of a person, other than one of the participants, is caused by any participant.

(1.5) It is an affirmative defense to a charge of violating subsection (1)(b) of this section that the defendant:

(a) Was not the only participant in the underlying crime; and

(b) Did not commit the homicidal act or in any way solicit, request, command, importune, cause, or aid the commission thereof; and

(c) Was not armed with a deadly weapon; and

(d) Did not engage himself or herself in or intend to engage in and had no reasonable ground to believe that any other participant intended to engage in conduct likely to result in death or serious bodily injury.

(2) Diminished responsibility due to self-induced intoxication is not a defense to murder in the second degree.

(3)

(a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection (3), murder in the second degree is a class 2 felony.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (3), murder in the second degree is a class 3 felony where the act causing the death was performed upon a sudden heat of passion, caused by a serious and highly provoking act of the intended victim, affecting the defendant sufficiently to excite an irresistible passion in a reasonable person; but, if between the provocation and the killing there is an interval sufficient for the voice of reason and humanity to be heard, the killing is a class 2 felony.

(c) For purposes of determining sudden heat of passion pursuant to subsection (3)(b) of this section, a defendant’s act does not constitute an act performed upon a sudden heat of passion if it results solely from the discovery of, knowledge about, or potential disclosure of the victim’s actual or perceived gender, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation, including but not limited to under circumstances in which the victim made an unwanted nonforcible romantic or sexual advance toward the defendant.

(4) A defendant convicted pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall be sentenced by the court in accordance with the provisions of section 18-1.3-406.