In Colorado, domestic violence isn’t a standalone crime. It’s a sentence enhancer attached to another charge, like assault, harassment, or criminal mischief. Prove it, and a conviction comes with mandatory treatment classes on top of the underlying penalty.
First, the DA has to prove the underlying crime itself: assault, harassment, stalking, criminal mischief, whatever it is. Domestic violence doesn’t stand alone. It rides on top of that charge.
Second, under C.R.S. § 18-6-800.3, the DA has to prove the case fits the legal definition of domestic violence. That means showing one of two things:
- An act or threatened act of violence against a person the defendant is or has been involved with in an intimate relationship.
- Or any other crime against a person, property, or an animal, used as a method of coercion, control, punishment, intimidation, or revenge against a person the defendant is or has been involved with in an intimate relationship.
What Counts as an “Intimate Relationship”
Colorado defines this broadly: spouses, former spouses, past or present unmarried couples, and parents of the same child, married or not, ever lived together or not.
The enhancer catches relationships that don’t look like the stereotype. Co-parents who never married or lived together still count. People are often surprised the label applies to them at all.
If you’re facing a charge with a domestic violence enhancer in Colorado, talk to a defense attorney about what the DA actually has to prove, and where that proof might be thin.
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