People v. McNeese case brief

People v. McNeese case brief summary
892 P.2d 304 (1995)

CASE SYNOPSIS

The state appealed a judgment from the Colorado Court of Appeals, which affirmed the trial court's decision that respondent established immunity from prosecution because he met the requirements of the make-my-day statute, Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-1-704.5 (1986).

CASE FACTS
Respondent was charged with murder and assault in the stabbing of his tenant and the stabbing deaths of her common-law husband and another man. He sought, and the trial court granted, immunity from prosecution under the make-my-day statute. The court of appeals affirmed.

DISCUSSION

• The Colorado Supreme Court reversed and remanded because respondent failed to satisfy the make-my-day statute's requirements. 
• To qualify for immunity under the statute, an occupant had to show by a preponderance of the evidence that there was an unlawful entry and that he had a reasonable belief that the intruder intended to commit or committed a crime in the dwelling. 
• In this case, the intruder's entry may have been uninvited, but it was not necessarily an unlawful because it did not establish a knowing violation of the criminal law. 
• Respondent also failed to prove that he had a reasonable belief that the intruder committed or intended to commit a crime.

CONCLUSION
The court of appeals' judgment was reversed and remanded.

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