Colorado legal term
Mental disease or defect in Colorado Criminal Law
Current through 2026 Colorado legislative session
In Colorado criminal law, “Mental disease or defect” is a term defined by statute rather than by its everyday meaning. Its statutory definition — quoted verbatim below — controls how the term is applied throughout the Colorado criminal code.
What does “Mental disease or defect” mean in Colorado criminal law?
"Mental disease or defect" means only those severely abnormal mental conditions that grossly and demonstrably impair a person's perception or understanding of reality and that are not attributable to the voluntary ingestion of alcohol or any other psychoactive substance; except that it does not include an abnormality manifested only by repeated criminal or otherwise antisocial conduct. (C.R.S. § 16-8-102)
Statutes defining or using this term
Related terms in the same statutes
This reference is informational and is not legal advice.