People v. Voth
Colorado Supreme Court
312 P.3d 144 (2013)
- Written by Salina Kennedy, JD
Facts
While experiencing hallucinations caused by a suspected virus, Paul Voth (defendant) shot at his neighbor and attempted to break into his neighbor’s home. Voth was charged with several felonies, including attempted second-degree murder and attempted first-degree burglary. At trial, Voth raised the affirmative defense of involuntary intoxication, arguing that the virus was a substance capable of resulting in intoxication pursuant to Colorado’s involuntary intoxication statute. The trial court found that a virus was a substance within the meaning of the involuntary intoxication statute and issued an order allowing Voth to assert the defense of involuntary intoxication. The State of Colorado (plaintiff) appealed the trial court’s order.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Rice, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
