The People of the State of Colorado, Petitioner/cross-Respondent v. David Delbert Rediger, Respondent/cross-Petitioner.

Summary

The Supreme Court of Colorado affirmed in part and reversed in part a court of appeals decision addressing David Rediger's convictions for interference with a public employee in a public building and interference with the staff, faculty, or students of an educational institution. Concluding that 'public employee' unambiguously means an employee of a governmental entity, the Court agreed with the division that the owner-director of a regulated nonprofit school was not a public employee and that the conviction under section 18-9-110(1) could not stand. The Court further held that defense counsel's statement that he was 'satisfied' with the jury instructions neither waived nor invited the constructive amendment of the charging document — at most it was a forfeiture — and, reviewing for plain error, found that submitting an elemental instruction tracking section 18-9-109(1)(b) rather than the charged section 18-9-109(2) was plain error necessitating a new trial on that count.