Colorado’s second-highest court reversed a defendant’s conviction last week for assaulting a paramedic, concluding that a Denver judge needed to give jurors additional information about the duties that paramedics are legally authorized to carry out.
Two paramedics were attempting to take Chakib E. Ez-Zahir to a hospital against his will. After one paramedic blocked his path, Ez-Zahir struck her forearm with his fist. Prosecutors charged him with assault and jurors convicted him.
As a component of the crime, Ez-Zahir needed to have caused injury to the paramedic with the intent to stop her from performing a “lawful duty.” Moreover, Ez-Zahir’s claim that he acted in self-defense hinged on the imminent use of “unlawful physical force” by the paramedic. Taken together, the jury had to determine whether the paramedic acted lawfully in attempting to transport Ez-Zahir without his consent…