Main Content
Whitaker v. People
Colorado has adopted in large part the Model Penal Code rules for culpability, including the rules of construction / interpretation. Colorado's legislature has therefore evinced disapproval of strict liability for any element of the offense, just as has the MPC.
And yet Whitaker seems to arrive at a different conclusion. This case is challenging. Is it operating within the MPC framework or does it sidestep that framework? It is tempting to view Whitaker as relying on the organization of the numbering of the statute, but the holding is a little more nuanced. Spend some time with Whitaker and try to ascertain how it justifies its seeming deviation from the Colorado legislature's general framework.
This book, and all H2O books, are Creative Commons licensed for sharing and re-use with the exception of certain excerpts. Any excerpts from the Restatements of the Law, Principles of the Law, and the Model Penal Code are copyright by The American Law Institute. Excerpts are reproduced with permission, not as part of a Creative Commons license.