v. Harrison

2020 CO 57, 465 P.3d 16
Supreme Court of Colorado·Decided June 15, 2020·No. 19SC448, People·Published·Cited by 229 cases

Opinion

Opinions of the Colorado Supreme Court are available to the public and can be accessed through the Judicial Branch’s homepage at http://www.courts.state.co.us. Opinions are also posted on the Colorado Bar Association’s homepage at http://www.cobar.org.

ADVANCE SHEET HEADNOTE

June 15, 2020

2020 CO 57

No. 19SC448, People v. Harrison—§ 18-1-711(1)(a), C.R.S. (2019)—Good-Faith Reporting Requirement—Requirement to Report Acute Condition Caused by Consumption or Use of Drugs or Alcohol—Objective and Subjective Standards—Sufficiency of the Evidence to Disprove Affirmative Defense.

The supreme court holds that the plain language of section 18-1-711(1)(a), C.R.S. (2019), requires both that a person report in good faith what she subjectively perceives is an acute condition caused by the consumption or use of drugs or alcohol and that a layperson would reasonably believe that the reported condition is a drug or alcohol overdose needing medical assistance. Further, assuming without deciding that the defendant was entitled to invoke section 18-1-711 as an affirmative defense at trial, the court concludes that the evidence introduced, when viewed as a whole and in the light most favorable to the prosecution, was sufficient to disprove her affirmative defense and support her convictions. Because the court of appeals reached different conclusions on both fronts, its judgment is reversed.

The Supreme Court of the State of Colorado 2 East 14th Avenue • Denver, Colorado 80203

2020 CO 57

Supreme Court Case No. 19SC448 Certiorari to the Colorado Court of Appeals Court of Appeals Case No. 17CA1372

Petitioner:

The People of the State of Colorado, v.

Respondent:

Brittany Page Harrison.

Judgment Reversed

en banc

June 15, 2020

Attorneys for Petitioner: Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General Trina K. Taylor, Assistant Attorney General Denver, Colorado

Attorneys for Respondent: Megan A. Ring, Public Defender Jessica Sommer, Deputy Public Defender Denver, Colorado

JUSTICE SAMOUR delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶1 In Colorado, if a person suffers an emergency drug or alcohol overdose event and certain requirements are satisfied, she may not be prosecuted, or even arrested, for possession of a controlled substance or possession of drug paraphernalia. § 18-1-711(1)–(3), C.R.S. (2019). One of those requirements is that someone must have “report[ed] in good faith [the] emergency drug or alcohol overdose event to a law enforcement officer, to the 911 system, or to a medical provider.” § 18-1-711(1)(a).

¶2 Brittany Page Harrison was charged with possession of two controlled substances and drug paraphernalia. Before trial, she filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that she was entitled to immunity pursuant to section 18-1-711 because she had suffered an emergency drug overdose event that was reported by another person to the 911 system. Though the district court denied her motion, it allowed her to rely on that statute to raise an affirmative defense at trial. The jury found Harrison guilty as charged, but a division of the court of appeals vacated her judgment of conviction.

¶3 In what is our first foray into the safe haven created by section 18-1-711, we must resolve two questions. First, did the division correctly construe the requirement in section 18-1-711(1)(a) that a person must “report[] in good faith an emergency drug or alcohol overdose event”? Second, did the division correctly conclude that the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence to disprove

Harrison’s affirmative defense and, consequently, to support her convictions? Because we answer both questions in the negative, we reverse the division’s judgment.

¶4 Though section 18-1-711 is hardly a paragon of clarity, we hold that the plain language of subsection (1)(a) requires both that a person report in good faith what she subjectively perceives is an acute condition caused by the consumption or use of drugs or alcohol and that a layperson would reasonably believe that the reported condition is a drug or alcohol overdose needing medical assistance. Further, assuming without deciding that Harrison was entitled to invoke section 18-1-711 as an affirmative defense at trial, we hold that the evidence introduced, when viewed as a whole and in the light most favorable to the prosecution, was sufficient to disprove the affirmative defense beyond a reasonable doubt.

I. Facts and Procedural History

¶5 One morning, Harrison and her teenage friend, A.M., walked into a Burger King, ordered food, and sat down in a booth. About an hour and a half later, staff noticed that Harrison and A.M. had not touched their food, were slumped on the table, and appeared to be asleep. At the request of the restaurant’s manager, an employee attempted to wake them up by touching their shoulders, shaking them, banging on the table, and yelling. Harrison and A.M. didn’t even flinch or open

their eyes. Shortly thereafter, the manager asked the employee to take another crack at waking Harrison and A.M. He obliged, but was unsuccessful.

¶6 Because she was concerned for the two patrons’ well-being and wondered if something was wrong, the manager called 911. She asked for help for two individuals who were sleeping in the restaurant and would not wake up. Her expectation was that the police would respond, rouse Harrison and A.M., admonish them about sleeping there, and ask them to leave. It “never really crossed [her] mind” that either of them was suffering from a drug or alcohol overdose. She did not observe anything that looked like drugs or paraphernalia or any signs that were indicative of intoxication or impairment.

¶7 Corporal Payne was the first to respond. Harrison woke up after he shook her and announced himself. He could not get A.M. to wake up, and A.M. was eventually transported to a hospital via ambulance. Upon awakening, Harrison was sluggish and groggy. But soon after, she provided her identification, asked if she could eat her food, ate a hamburger, and had a brief conversation with Corporal Payne. Corporal Payne documented in his report that in response to one of his questions, Harrison indicated that she had not used drugs that day.

¶8 Officer Gonzales arrived while Corporal Payne was talking with Harrison. As he watched their interaction, he thought that she appeared to be under the influence of some substance. Corporal Payne concurred. With Harrison’s

permission, Corporal Payne searched her purse, where he discovered a syringe, a spoon, a butane torch, tin-foil with burn marks, and a baggie with a tar-type substance that later tested positive for heroin. Harrison also consented to a search of her backpack. Inside the backpack, Officer Gonzales found two glass pipes, a lighter, butane fluid, two butane torches, aluminum foil, and a baggie containing a powdery substance that later tested positive for methamphetamine.

¶9 Based on the items collected during the two searches, Harrison was arrested. Corporal Payne and Officer Gonzales noted that she had no trouble walking. And Harrison did not require or receive any medical assistance.

¶10 The prosecution subsequently charged Harrison with two counts of possession of a controlled substance (one alleging possession of heroin and the other alleging possession of methamphetamine) and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. She pled not guilty to the three charges.

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v. Harrison, 2020 CO 57, 465 P.3d 16 (Colo. 2020).

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