Kirk plead not guilty by reason of insanity.
....
His defense said he was so impaired by the marijuana that he may not have intended to kill his wife,
I was curious so I did some reading & found out that in some states, you can use the defense of 'voluntary intoxication' meaning you knowingly consumed drugs or alcohol but were rendered 'temporarily insane' by the effects & therefor cannot be held responsible for your actions.
However, Colorado is not one of those states. In Colorado you may not use the excuse as a valid defense. The law in CO states:
"Voluntary intoxication does not excuse criminal conduct; Intoxication resulting from alcoholism or drug addiction is considered voluntary under common law principles."
So he's not going to be able to be aquitted of the murder if he sticks with this defense. What his attorney might be trying to do with this 'temporary insanity due to voluntary intoxication' defense is to have the 1st degree murder charge lowered to 2nd degree.
CO does allow voluntary intoxication to be considered in 'specific intent' crimes, such as murder- where a person's intent or 'mens rea' would be considered.
"In states that recognize the defense in all specific-intent crimes such as the State of Colorado, if the crime of “murder” is divided into degrees, a defendant may generally introduce evidence that his intoxication prevented him from being able to form the requisite state of mind for first-degree murder."
However, CO law does not allow insanity defenses based on voluntary intoxication:
"Intoxicated-Induced Insanity – The common law does not recognize a defense of temporary insanity based on intoxication where the defendant’s intoxication was voluntary."
So Idk where his attorney is going with that claim- the law seems pretty clear that claiming 'temp insanity due to intoxication' is not a valid defense in CO?
It seems to me that he might be able to eek out a 2nd degree murder conviction if the defense can prove that he was so intoxicated by drugs, he lacked the ability to form the 'specific intent' needed to be found guilty of 1st degree murder.
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