Stalking in Colorado

What the charge means

Prosecutors can prove stalking in three ways. Each requires that the person acted knowingly, directly or through someone else:

• Credible threat plus repeated conduct. Making a credible threat to a person and then repeatedly following, approaching, contacting, or watching that person, a family member, or someone they have a relationship with.
• Credible threat plus repeated communication. Making a credible threat and then repeatedly communicating with those same people, in any form.
• Serious emotional distress. Repeatedly following, approaching, contacting, watching, or communicating with someone in a way that would cause a reasonable person serious emotional distress, and that actually causes that distress. No threat is required for this version, and the alleged victim does not need to have seen a therapist to prove distress.

Repeatedly means more than once. A credible threat does not have to be spoken; conduct or a pattern of behavior can qualify. These cases most often arise from broken relationships: repeated texts and calls after a breakup, showing up at a workplace or home, monitoring social media, or messages sent through friends. The line between persistent, unwelcome contact and criminal stalking is exactly where these cases are fought.

Classification and sentencing

A first offense is a class 5 felony. Stalking is an extraordinary risk crime, which raises the top of the presumptive range. If the court imposes prison, the range is 1 to 3 years, extended to a 4 year maximum by the extraordinary risk label, followed by 2 years of mandatory parole.

The charge becomes a class 4 felony if either is true:

• It is a second or later offense within seven years of a prior stalking conviction; or
• At the time of the conduct there was a protection order, injunction, or condition of bond, probation, or parole in effect prohibiting contact.

For the class 4 version, if prison is imposed the range is 2 to 6 years, extended to an 8 year maximum, followed by 3 years of mandatory parole.

These ranges describe what applies only if the court orders incarceration. Probation and other sentences are often possible, and the statute does not mandate prison. Two more features matter. If the parties had an intimate relationship, the case carries Colorado's domestic violence label, which brings a mandatory protection order and treatment requirements. And under Vonnie's Law, someone arrested for stalking must generally be brought before a judge before bond conditions are set, rather than being released on a standard bond schedule.

What else it touches

A stalking case carries consequences beyond the sentence:

• Firearms. A felony conviction bars firearm possession under state and federal law, and a domestic violence finding triggers its own federal firearm ban.
• Immigration. Federal immigration law specifically lists stalking convictions as a ground of deportability for a noncitizen.
• Protection orders. A mandatory criminal protection order applies during the case, and a permanent civil protection order can follow it, restricting where a person can live, work, and go.
• Record sealing. A dismissal or acquittal can generally be sealed. A stalking conviction is difficult to seal, and one carrying the domestic violence label is not eligible.

We defend stalking cases, and a free consultation is the place to get answers about a specific situation. Calls and emails are returned the same business day.