Background
In November 2023, Richard James Coulier II negotiated an informal deal with Ann Marie Lopez to purchase an inoperative vehicle from her yard for $200, with payment and title to change hands once the vehicle was repaired. Lopez gave Coulier the keys, and he began repairs the same day. That evening, without consulting Lopez, Coulier pushed the vehicle from her property to his own down the street to continue working on it. When Lopez discovered the car missing the next morning, she reported it stolen. Coulier eventually made the vehicle operable and gave it to his son, who was subsequently stopped by police for driving a stolen vehicle and directed officers back to his father.
After police contacted Coulier about the vehicle, he attempted to resolve the matter directly with Lopez by repeatedly knocking on her door, which she refused to answer out of fear. Coulier then obtained the phone number for Lopez’s household through an internet search and called her residence. During that call, he identified himself as “Detective Rich of the Colorado Springs Police Department” and requested that Lopez allow the “detective” to bring Coulier to her home to discuss the misunderstanding. Lopez was skeptical, asked for a badge number — which Coulier refused to provide — and, believing she recognized his voice, demanded he stop contacting her. She then called police, who traced the call to Coulier’s personal phone number. Coulier admitted to an officer that he had identified himself as a police detective.
Coulier was charged with motor vehicle theft and impersonating a peace officer under § 18-8-112(1), C.R.S. 2025. During deliberations, the jury asked the trial court to clarify what constituted “performed an act” under the impersonation charge; the court referred jurors to the statutory definition of “voluntary act” and instructed them to use reason and common sense. The jury acquitted Coulier of motor vehicle theft but convicted him of impersonating a peace officer. He appealed, arguing the statute required an overt act beyond the verbal misrepresentation itself and that the evidence was insufficient.
The Court’s Holding
The Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction in a matter of first impression, construing the phrase “an act” in § 18-8-112(1). The division held that “an act” encompasses any conduct — verbal or physical — performed while in the pretended capacity, and that courts need not read the word “overt” into the statute. Applying Merriam-Webster’s definition of “act” as “the doing of a thing” or “something done voluntarily,” and cross-referencing the statutory definition of “voluntary act” in § 18-1-501(9), the court concluded the legislature intended no special limitation beyond requiring something more than mere false assumption of identity standing alone.
The court found its reading consistent with federal case law interpreting the analogous federal impersonation statute, 18 U.S.C. § 912, which requires conduct beyond “mere bravado, puffery, or bragging.” Surveying decisions such as United States v. Neidlinger, United States v. Rosser, and United States v. Tullos, the division observed that verbal acts — such as soliciting information while posing as an IRS agent — had been held sufficient under the federal statute, and it saw no meaningful distinction between those cases and Coulier’s conduct.
Applying that standard, the court held that Coulier’s phone call in which he, posing as “Detective Rich,” encouraged Lopez to meet with him at her home to clear up the vehicle misunderstanding constituted an act performed in his pretended capacity. That conduct — analogous to the solicitation found sufficient in Rosser — went beyond mere false assumption of identity and supplied the second statutory element. Combined with Coulier’s own admissions to police, the court found the evidence sufficient to sustain the conviction.
Key Takeaways
- As a matter of first impression in Colorado, “an act” under the peace-officer impersonation statute, § 18-8-112(1), means any conduct — including verbal conduct — performed while falsely holding oneself out as an officer; courts will not add an “overt act” requirement the legislature did not include.
- Colorado’s standard aligns with the federal threshold: a defendant must do something more than merely assume a false identity, but any conduct in the pretended capacity that goes beyond bravado or puffery will suffice — verbal solicitation qualifies.
- A defendant’s own admissions to police (here, that he introduced himself as a detective and requested a meeting) can constitute additional independent evidence supporting the “performed an act” element.
- When a jury asks for clarification on a statutory element and the trial court refers it to a related statutory definition without further elaboration, that response will be evaluated on appeal alongside the overall sufficiency of the evidence rather than as an independent instructional error if the defendant does not challenge it.
Why It Matters
This decision settles, for the first time in Colorado, the scope of conduct required to sustain a conviction for impersonating a peace officer. By confirming that verbal acts — such as making a phone call, identifying oneself as a detective, and directing the recipient’s behavior in that pretended capacity — satisfy the “performed an act” element, the court closes a potential loophole for defendants who stop short of displaying a badge or uniform. Prosecutors and defense counsel now have a clear standard: false assumption of identity plus any further conduct in that pretended role is enough; the false assumption alone is not.
The decision also serves as a useful roadmap for how Colorado courts will approach undefined statutory terms in the criminal code, underscoring that courts will look first to dictionary definitions, then to analogous federal precedent, and will decline to import limiting words — like “overt” — that the General Assembly chose not to include. For practitioners, the alignment with federal § 912 case law means a substantial body of persuasive authority is now available when litigating Colorado peace-officer impersonation charges.