Greeley Menacing
Defense Attorney

Bruno Lilly LeClere

In Colorado, menacing is a serious crime. As defined by Section 18-3-206 of the Colorado Code, menacing consists of knowingly causing another person to fear imminent and serious bodily injury by use of threat or physical act. Menacing also consists of the attempt to instill fear this way.

If you are convicted of menacing, it’s possible you will be required to serve time in jail. For this reason, it is vital that you reach out to Bruno Lilly LeClere to talk with our Greeley menacing defense lawyer today. With our law firm by your side, you will give yourself the best chance of a favorable outcome.

Examples of Menacing

We see some common situations where a person gets picked up and charged with menacing:

• Taking a swing at someone in a bar
• Yelling that you’re going to shoot a person while brandishing a gun
• Running up to someone as if you’re about to fight them
• Trying to hit someone intentionally with your car
• Throwing objects at someone

When is Menacing a Felony?

Although menacing is usually a Class 1 misdemeanor, it might be a Class 5 felony if you use a deadly weapon to menace someone, or you use an article that the alleged victim reasonably believes is a deadly weapon. As defined by law, a deadly weapon is a knife, bludgeon, or firearm—or anything that simulates one of these. Waving around a fake but realistic gun would qualify.

Menacing Penalties in Colorado

Possible penalties will depend on whether you are charged with a misdemeanor or felony menacing. Either conviction is serious and you could end up in jail or prison.

If convicted of misdemeanor menacing, the accused could see a maximum of 364 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. That’s a heavy price to pay for trying to strike someone or threaten them with a weapon.

If convicted of felony menacing, the accused could have between 1 to 3 years in prison and a fine between $1,000 and $100,000. Colorado felons also lose important civil rights, such as the ability to possess or carry a firearm.

Not everyone convicted of menacing goes to jail. If this is your first conviction, you could possibly see probation instead of jail time. But this is where an experienced attorney is a big benefit. At Bruno Lilly LeClere, we will argue to a judge that you deserve the least serious penalties, if possible, and we can point to your clean criminal record as part of our argument. If you already have convictions—especially violent felonies—then avoiding jail is that much harder.

Defending against Menacing Charges

Being arrested is scary. However, an arrest is not a conviction, and there are usually defenses we can raise on your behalf. The specific defense raised should have a solid basis in the factual record, so we need to fully review your case before settling on a defense strategy.

Nonetheless, some common defenses include:

• The accused did not knowingly undertake to place the alleged victim in fear of imminent and serious bodily injury.
• No reasonable person could have believed they were in fear of imminent serious injury under the circumstances.
• The accused was acting in self-defense, i.e., they were menaced or attacked first.
• Mistaken identity—someone else menaced the alleged victim.
• If you are accused of felony menacing, we could argue:
• You didn’t brandish a deadly weapon.
• No one could reasonably believe that you were holding or had possession of a deadly weapon.
• You never conveyed by words or deeds that you had a deadly weapon.

Prosecutors are sometimes over-confident about the strength of their evidence. For example, they might have you on video holding a gun. However, that doesn’t by itself show you were menacing anyone. You could have been showing it to someone in a calm manner or just showing it off.

When menacing consists of words, people often have differing interpretations of what was said. Their memories might differ as well.

Many people get into arguments or make threats over social media. Of course, no one should threaten another person online but, online threats rarely qualify as menacing, because the person making the threats can’t cause imminent harm, which is an element of the crime.