Colorado § 18-4-103 - Second degree arson.

§ 18-4-103. Second degree arson.

(1) A person who knowingly sets fire to, burns, causes to be burned, or by the use of any explosive damages or destroys, or causes to be damaged or destroyed, any property of another without his consent, other than a building or occupied structure, commits second degree arson.

(2) Second degree arson is:

(a) A petty offense if the value of the property is less than three hundred dollars;

(b) A class 2 misdemeanor if the value of the property is three hundred dollars or more but less than one thousand dollars;

(c) A class 1 misdemeanor if the value of the property is one thousand dollars or more but less than two thousand dollars;

(d) A class 6 felony if the value of the property is two thousand dollars or more but less than five thousand dollars;

(e) A class 5 felony if the value of the property is five thousand dollars or more but less than twenty thousand dollars;

(f) A class 4 felony if the value of the property is twenty thousand dollars or more but less than one hundred thousand dollars;

(g) A class 3 felony if the value of the property is one hundred thousand dollars or more but less than one million dollars; and

(h) A class 2 felony if the value of the property is one million dollars or more.

(3) Repealed.

Source: L. 71: R&RE, p. 426, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 40-4-103. L. 77: (1) amended, p. 962, § 20, effective July 1. L. 2021: (2) amended, (SB 21-271), ch. 462, p. 3174, § 200, effective March 1, 2022; (3)(b) added by revision, (SB 21-271), ch. 462, pp. 3174, 3331, §§ 200, 803.

Editor's note: Subsection (3)(b) provided for the repeal of subsection (3), effective March 1, 2022. (See L. 2021, pp. 3174, 3331.)

ANNOTATION

Arson of nondwelling cannot be substituted for charge as to dwelling. Where a count of an information identifies with particularity the exact section of the statute upon which prosecution is based, namely burning a certain dwelling, no other statute can be substituted for the one actually selected as forming the subject matter of the prosecution, namely the burning of a nondwelling, in a different location, and belonging to a different person. Skidmore v. People, 154 Colo. 363, 390 P.2d 944 (1964) (decided under former § 40-3-1, CRS 53).

Unit of prosecution under this section allows for multiple convictions where distinct property belonging to different people was set on fire, burned, or caused to be burned by defendant. However, "any property" indicates that there may be an aggregate component to a second degree arson charge, and so, every separately identifiable piece of property damaged may not necessarily support its own charge. People v. Magana, 2020 COA 148, 490 P.3d 948, aff'd in part, rev'd in part on other grounds, 2022 CO 25, 511 P.3d 585.

The fact that wife's clothing may have been acquired during the course of her marriage to the defendant and may constitute "marital property" under § 14-10-113 does not create an ownership interest in that property in the defendant for purposes of this section. The evidence presented at the trial concerning wife's ownership is sufficient to support a finding of "property of another" and therefore defendant's arson conviction. People v. Sullivan, 53 P.3d 1181 (Colo. App. 2002).

Applied in People v. Ray, 640 P.2d 262 (Colo. App. 1981).