People v. Joyce, No. 01CA1352.

Citation68 P.3d 521
Decision Date10 October 2002
Docket NumberNo. 01CA1352.
PartiesThe PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. James C. JOYCE, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtCourt of Appeals of Colorado

Ken Salazar, Attorney General, Michelle L. Prince, Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Hollis A. Whitson, P.C., Hollis A. Whitson, Eric A. Samler, Denver, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant.

Opinion by Judge DAVIDSON.

Defendant, James C. Joyce, appeals from a judgment entered on a jury verdict finding him guilty of attempted second degree kidnapping, assault, and false imprisonment. We affirm.

Defendant and his son woke the victim from his sleep, hit him multiple times, and took him from his room, allegedly intending to take the victim to jail. At some point, the victim was handcuffed. The victim broke free and ran out of the apartment. Defendant's son pursued and seized the victim and brought him back to the apartment, at which point police arrived.

Defendant asserted self-defense. However, the trial court refused to allow defendant to argue as an alternative defense that, because he believed the victim had previously been involved in a robbery, he was effecting a citizen's arrest.

I.

Defendant contends that the trial court erred in refusing to allow him to assert an affirmative defense alleging use of physical force necessary to effect an arrest by a private person pursuant to § 18-1-707(7), C.R.S.2002, and in instructing the jury that the defense did not apply as a matter of law because defendant had not witnessed the victim's alleged crime. We disagree.

Section 18-1-707(7) states:

A private person acting on his own account is justified in using reasonable and appropriate physical force upon another person when and to the extent that he reasonably believes it necessary to effect an arrest, or to prevent the escape from custody of an arrested person who has committed an offense in his presence ....

However, § 16-3-201, C.R.S.2002, provides that "A person who is not a peace officer may arrest another person when any crime has been or is being committed by the arrested person in the presence of the person making the arrest."

Defendant does not dispute that the plain language of § 16-3-201 authorizes a private person to arrest another when a crime is committed in his or her presence. Nonetheless, defendant argues, in § 18-1-707(7), the phrase "who has committed an offense in his presence" only applies to the second clause, "to prevent the escape from custody of an arrested person," and does not apply to a person simply effecting an arrest. Thus, he maintains, he was entitled to assert the use of physical force as a defense. We disagree.

The goal in interpreting any statute is to determine and give effect to the intent of the General Assembly by looking first to the language of the statute itself. A statutory scheme must be read as a whole and interpreted so as to give consistent, harmonious, and sensible effect to all its parts. State v. Nieto, 993 P.2d 493 (Colo.2000); People v. Garcia, 64 P.3d 857 (Colo.App.2002). Moreover, when interpreting two statutory sections, we must attempt to harmonize them to give effect to their purposes and, if possible, reconcile them so as to uphold the validity of both. Norsby v. Jensen, 916 P.2d 555 (Colo. App.1995).

Here, the two statutes serve related, but different, purposes. On the one hand, § 16-3-201 concerns the authority of a person who is not a peace officer to make an arrest in certain circumstances. On the other hand, § 18-1-707(7) is part of the article codifying affirmative defenses including, inter alia, the use of physical force. Whereas the former statute explains who can make arrests and under what circumstances, the latter sets forth when a person lawfully effecting an arrest is permitted to use physical force.

Thus, read in proper context, § 18-1-707 applies to persons otherwise authorized to make arrests, namely peace officers, and, pursuant to § 16-3-201, private persons. Hence, contrary to defendant's contention, an arrest must first be authorized under § 16-3-201 before a private person can use physical force to effect it under § 18-1-707(7). Furthermore, when a person already under arrest has attempted an escape, the second clause of § 18-1-707(7) similarly permits a private person to use physical force but, again, only when the attempted escape is committed in his or her presence.

Here, defendant concedes that the victim did not commit a crime in his presence. As a result, defendant was not authorized to make an arrest and, therefore, was not justified in using physical force against the victim. Thus, the court did not err by precluding the affirmative defense. Likewise, the court correctly instructed the jury that the defense did not apply.

II.

Defendant next contends that the court erred by admitting certain hearsay statements from two witnesses. Because these arguments are made for the first time on appeal, we review them under a plain error standard. See People v. Fuller, 788 P.2d 741, 747 (Colo.1990)

("The appropriate standard for plain error review is whether an appellate court, after reviewing the entire record, can say with fair assurance that the error so undermined the fundamental fairness of the trial itself as to cast serious doubt on the reliability of the judgment of conviction."). We find no plain error.

During direct examination, an emergency room treating physician testified that the victim told her that he was handcuffed by his assailant. The prosecutor asked for clarification as to whether she wrote down "assailant" or "assailants." She corrected herself, stating that she wrote down "assailants." Defendant argues that this was improper hearsay. We disagree.

Here, the victim's statement was made in response to standard questions designed to elicit facts necessary for medical diagnosis and treatment and was therefore admissible pursuant to CRE 803(4). See People v. Martinez, 18 P.3d 831 (Colo.App.2000)

(victim identified the defendant to emergency medical personnel as the perpetrator).

Moreover, contrary to defendant's argument, whether he personally handcuffed the victim was not dispositive because there was sufficient evidence of defendant's guilt as a complicitor. See People v. Eppens, 979 P.2d 14 (Colo.1999)

(evidence of guilt mitigates effect of witness's statement in plain error review).

Defendant also contends that it was plain error to allow the prosecutor to elicit from the arresting officer hearsay statements made by the victim, such as how much the victim had to drink or whether he was a light or heavy sleeper. Defendant asserts that this evidence indicated when the handcuffs were placed on the victim and, therefore, was pivotal to his defense of self-defense. However, this testimony was merely cumulative and could have had little impact on the verdict in light of the extensive testimony given by defendant, defendant's son, the victim, and a witness, as to when the handcuffing occurred.

III.

During jury selection, defendant mentioned a publicized incident in which two people were killed trying to stop a crime. Defendant stated that, although it was "tragic," it was also an example of someone trying to effect a legitimate citizen's arrest. In closing argument, the prosecutor referred to defense counsel's discussion of that incident, stating, "Those are the kinds of things that happen to people when they try to take the law into their own hands. And this outcome is what happened to [the victim] when the defendant and his son took the law into their own hands." Defendant argues that the prosecutor's statement was prejudicial and constituted reversible error. We disagree.

Because defendant did not object to the comments during closing argument, we again review for plain error. A prosecutor's misconduct is plain error if it is flagrant or glaringly or tremendously improper. See People v. Constant, 645 P.2d 843 (Colo.1982)

.

Here, defendant initially discussed the incident during jury selection, casting a citizen's arrest in a positive and heroic light. See People v. Vialpando, 804 P.2d 219 (Colo.App.1990)

(reviewing court should consider whether defense counsel invited remark). Moreover, because defendant could not use the defense of citizen's arrest, both parties' statements were tangential and could not have prejudiced defendant as to any legitimate issue in the case.

In any event, overwhelming evidence of guilt was presented at trial, including the testimony of defendant's son, his son's girlfriend, and two police officers, as well as defendant's own testimony that he conspired with his son to take the victim to jail. Hence, the prosecutor's...

To continue reading

Request your trial
10 cases
  • People v. Fortson
    • United States
    • Colorado Court of Appeals
    • April 5, 2018
    ...the improperly admitted lay testimony is cumulative of properly admitted expert testimony, there is no plain error."); People v. Joyce , 68 P.3d 521, 524 (Colo. App. 2002) (concluding that the admission of certain hearsay statements was not plain error when such evidence was "merely cumulat......
  • People v. Tran
    • United States
    • Colorado Court of Appeals
    • June 25, 2020
    ...was cumulative of Tran's statement on this point, the court did not plainly err by admitting Walmart's statement. See People v. Joyce , 68 P.3d 521, 524 (Colo. App. 2002) (concluding that admitting hearsay statements was not plain error because the statements were cumulative of other eviden......
  • Mendoza v. Line
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Colorado
    • January 23, 2015
    ...only that the defendant possessed the required intent and took a substantial step toward commission of the crime. People v. Joyce, 68 P.3d 521, 525 (Colo. App. 2002). In this context, a substantial step means conduct that strongly corroborates the actor's purpose to forcibly or otherwise se......
  • People v. Rojas
    • United States
    • Colorado Court of Appeals
    • February 22, 2018
    ...is that it creates a more specific criminal offense of the theft of food stamps by a fraudulent act. See People v. Joyce , 68 P.3d 521, 523 (Colo. App. 2002) ("The goal in interpreting any statute is to determine and give effect to the intent of the General Assembly by looking first to the ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT