## Facts

- Daniel P. Yascavage and Larriane Collier had an on-and-off relationship; Collier obtained a restraining order in April 2000.
- Yascavage continued contacting Collier and was arrested in May 2000 on harassment and domestic-violence charges.
- While jailed awaiting trial, Yascavage told a friend by phone that the charges might be dropped if someone “got to” Collier so she would not appear in court; law enforcement recorded the call.
- The prosecution charged Yascavage with criminal solicitation (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-2-301) to commit witness/victim tampering under § 18-8-707(1)(b) (inducing a victim or witness to absent themselves from an official proceeding).
- The jury was instructed that tampering under § 18-8-707(1)(b) required that the victim had been “legally summoned,” and it convicted Yascavage of criminal solicitation to tamper.
- The Colorado Court of Appeals vacated the conviction for insufficient evidence, concluding the prosecution did not prove Collier had been legally summoned.
- The Colorado Supreme Court granted review to decide whether § 18-8-707(1) requires proof of “legally summoned,” and what that phrase means in § 18-8-707(1)(b).

## Issues

1. Whether Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-8-707(1)(b) requires the prosecution to prove that the victim or witness was legally summoned to an official proceeding.
2. If so, whether “legally summoned” means only “subpoenaed” or more broadly “subject to legal process” (a judicially enforceable obligation to appear).

## Decision

- The Colorado Supreme Court affirmed the judgment vacating the conviction.
- The court held § 18-8-707(1)(b) includes a “legally summoned” element; subsections (1)(a) and (1)(c) do not.
- The court construed “legally summoned” to require a judicially enforceable obligation to appear and testify, though not necessarily a subpoena.
- Because the prosecution presented no evidence that Collier was legally summoned to any proceeding, the evidence was insufficient to support solicitation to commit tampering under § 18-8-707(1)(b).

## Legal Principles

- Statutory subsections within a single offense may contain different elements; courts must apply the elements chosen by the legislature.
- Under Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-8-707(1)(b), the prosecution must prove the victim or witness had been “legally summoned” to the relevant official proceeding.
- “Legally summoned” means the person is under a judicially enforceable obligation to appear and testify, but the obligation need not arise solely from a subpoena.
- A conviction cannot stand when the prosecution fails to prove an express statutory element, even if the conduct appears generally consistent with the statute’s protective purpose.

## Conclusion

The Colorado Supreme Court held that tampering under § 18-8-707(1)(b) requires proof the victim or witness was legally summoned—meaning under a judicially enforceable obligation to appear—and affirmed vacatur of Yascavage’s solicitation conviction because the record lacked evidence of that element.


People v. Yascavage, 101 P.3d 1090 (Colo. 2004)