{"data":{"id":"us-co/c.r.s.-18-1-504","jurisdiction":"us-co","citation":"C.R.S. § 18-1-504","heading":"Effect of ignorance or mistake upon culpability.","body":"(1) A person is not relieved of criminal liability for conduct because he engaged in that conduct under a mistaken belief of fact, unless:\n\n(a) It negatives the existence of a particular mental state essential to commission of the offense; or\n\n(b) The statute defining the offense or a statute relating thereto expressly provides that a factual mistake or the mental state resulting therefrom constitutes a defense or exemption; or\n\n(c) The factual mistake or the mental state resulting therefrom is of a kind that supports a defense of justification as defined in sections 18-1-701 to 18-1-707.\n\n(2) A person is not relieved of criminal liability for conduct because he engages in that conduct under a mistaken belief that it does not, as a matter of law, constitute an offense, unless the conduct is permitted by one or more of the following:\n\n(a) A statute or ordinance binding in this state;\n\n(b) An administrative regulation, order, or grant of permission by a body or official authorized and empowered to make such order or grant the permission under the laws of the state of Colorado;\n\n(c) An official written interpretation of the statute or law relating to the offense, made or issued by a public servant, agency, or body legally charged or empowered with the responsibility of administering, enforcing, or interpreting a statute, ordinance, regulation, order, or law. If such interpretation is by judicial decision, it must be binding in the state of Colorado.\n\n(3) Any defense authorized by this section is an affirmative defense.","path":["Title 18 - CRIMINAL CODE","Article 1 - Provisions Applicable to Offenses Generally","Part 5 - PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL CULPABILITY"],"source_url":"https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-18.htm","current_through":"Colorado Revised Statutes 2026","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:37:45Z","sha256":"bcc6b18afb16a1ce9a22d9cfef9fa88dd81df826ae8529f3c8c1e06451fafc0f","source_id":"us-co","stale":false,"prev":"us-co/c.r.s.-18-1-503.5","next":"us-co/c.r.s.-18-1-505"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}