Pearson v. Colorado
Annotate this CaseThe district court in this case affirmed a county court's determination that Thomas Pearson was not entitled to a self-defense instruction as a matter of law, with respect to a pending harassment charge. The issue his case presented for the Colorado Supreme Court was whether a defendant charged with harassment could claim self-defense as an affirmative defense. The charge arose as Pearson, working as a roadside assistance tow-truck driver, got into an altercation with another driver, Timothy O'Kelly. The Supreme Court concluded a defendant could assert self-defense as an affirmative defense to the crime of harassment so long as there was some credible evidence to allow a reasonable jury to find that they acted with intent to alarm, as outlined in section 18-9-111(1)(a), C.R.S. (2021), as a means of self-defense. Judgment was reversed and the case remanded to the trial court for further proceedings.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.