Elements of Stalking Offenses in Greenwood Village
Stalking laws can be found in section 18-3-602 of the Colorado Revised Statutes Annotated. A person commits the offense of stalking if that person knowingly does any of the following:
- Threatens another individual and in connection with that threat repeatedly contacts, approaches, or follows the individual or places that person under surveillance.
- Threatens another person and repeatedly attempts to communicate with that person.
- Repeatedly contacts, approaches, follows, places under surveillance, or attempts to communicate with another person in a manner that causes that person to experience serious emotional distress.
Under the law, it is also a stalking offense to contact, approach, follow, place under surveillance, or make any form of communication with a member of a person’s immediate family in connection to threats made to that person. The same is true if any of these actions are committed toward someone with whom the threatened person has a continuing relationship.
A seasoned Greenwood Village stalking attorney could review the facts of the case and determine the case has merit.
Penalties for Stalking
Stalking offenses are Class 5 felonies for a first offense in Greenwood Village. Subsequent offenses are charged and tried as Class 4 felonies and could be used towards charging a person as a habitual felon. The penalties for both classes of felonies include imprisonment, a hefty fine, and a period of parole.
The specific penalties associated with Class 5 felony stalking are a prison sentence of one to three years, a fine between $1,000 and $100,000, and two years on parole. The penalties for Class 4 felony stalking offenses include a prison sentence of two to six years, a fine between $2,000 and $500,000, and three years on parole.
The Colorado Revised Statutes Annotated identify stalking as an extraordinary risk offense, which means the maximum prison sentence could be increased by one year for Class 5 felonies or two years for Class 4 felonies. A stalking lawyer in Greenwood Village could explain the increased prison sentences for extraordinary risk crimes in greater detail.
