This web page contains the elements of the Colorado Crimes of Felony Criminal Mischief  (18-4-501)

These are only the basic elements of these crimes – to fully understand a crime with which you are charged you will need a much greater understanding of Colorado Criminal Law.

This web site is designed to empower criminal defendants by helping them understand every phase of the criminal justice process. It also addresses the different types of defenses and strategies that exist in the Colorado Criminal Justice System.

If you are charged with a crime and seek to understand the new world you have entered – you need to understand that criminal laws and procedures can be so complex that even judges can get them wrong.

Criminal Mischief (18-4-501)

1.A person who knowingly damages the real or personal property of one or more other persons, including property owned by the person jointly with another person or property owned by the person in which another person has a possessory or proprietary interest, in the course of a single criminal episode commits a class 2 misdemeanor where the aggregate damage to the real or personal property is less than five hundred dollars.

Where the aggregate damage to the real or personal property is five hundred dollars or more but less than one thousand dollars, the person commits a class 1 misdemeanor.

Where the aggregate damage to the real or personal property is one thousand dollars or more but less than twenty thousand dollars, the person commits a class 4 felony

Where the aggregate damage to the real or personal property is twenty thousand dollars or more, the person commits a class 3 felony.

2.If the court determines on the record that the underlying factual basis for any conviction of criminal mischief pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, or adjudication as a juvenile delinquent for an act that would constitute criminal mischief pursuant to subsection (1) of this section if committed by an adult, involves defacing property as described in section 18-4-509, the offender’s driver’s license shall be revoked as provided in section 42-2-125, C.R.S.

3.If the court determines on the record that the underlying factual basis for a conviction of criminal mischief pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, or adjudication as a juvenile delinquent for an act that would constitute criminal mischief pursuant to subsection (1) of this section if committed by an adult, involves damage to a motor vehicle, as defined in section 18-4-409 (1) (a), the offender’s driver’s license shall be revoked as provided in section 42-2-125, C.R.S.