Colorado Criminal Defense Legal Questions

Driving with an expired license is a class B Traffic Infraction carrying up to a $100 fine as the penalty. I beleive it does not mateer if it is from anotehr state. Be aware, however, that if Colorado is your residence you must get a Colorado license within 30 days of it becoming your residence. ... Read More

You are correct - this scenario you describe makes no sense. If there is a warrant, you should have been released only after posting bond - or signing a 'personal recognizance' bond - and the bond form you signed (which you would have been given a copy of) would have a court date on it. It makes no sense to be fignerprinted etc. but not given a court date.  If I were you, I would contact the Court clerk in the county that the warrant is from and ask about whether a court date is set, etc.  If you cannot find out from a Court clerk I would definitely hire a lawyer to help you figure this out. ... Read More

If the lawyer is a privately hired lawyer, then find another one, have them substitute as your boyfriends' lawyer. That will get the one lawyer out and a new one in. If it is the public defender, then your boyfriend needs to notify the court that he has a conflict with his lawyer and request an 'alternative defense counsel' lawyer. There probably will be a hearing about why he does not want to continue with the public defender. If he wishes to fire all lawyers and represent himself, then he needs to notify the court of that, and there will be a hearing about whether he really wants to do that and the pitfalls of doing so, but he has a right to represent himself if he wants to. ... Read More

I strongly encouragr you to contact the Colorado Legal Services group, https://www.coloradolegalservices.org/node/32/family-and-children, They can explain your rights and provide advice as to what can be done to protect you from this abusive situation. They offer free legal help. Good luck and take care.... Read More

If he is being held just on the warrant - he should see a judge within at least 72 hours.  Is it possible the case he has the warrant for had some 'suspended' jail time - which he is now serving?  A lawyer shoudl be able to help straighten this out, so hire one in the county where his cases are to help out.... Read More

A person normally cannot be held without bail unless it is a murder case or a few others.  A part of the bond will be that he have NO contacct with you.  You can contact the District Attorney's office in Colorado that is prosecuting him and make your concerns known and ask any questions you have of them. ... Read More

If you have completed the time period for probation and not "Motion to Revoke" has been filed, then it seems it will not be a problem. If they did file  motion to revoke probation (and that is how you know they say you missed the UAs), then a hearing will likely be set and they may ask for an additional sanction (community service work, extending probation, etc). ... Read More

The simple answer is "YES" you can ask the judge for more time before you are 're-sentenced' in your probation violation.  If you have other pending cases, the courts typically have the probation complaint 'trail' (follow behind) the new cases - and if a plea bargain can be worked out in all cases together, then the court will often accept that. I strongly encouage you to apply for the public defender to represent you so that you have a lawyer helping you. You may find that the result is much better than you are anticipating.... Read More

If he misses court, a warrant will be issued for his arrest, and he could be arrested in Texas, and await transport to Colorado to appear in court - that would be VERY much more disruptive to his life than finding a way to attend his court date.  He could hire a lawyer in the County where he is in Court and maybe the lawyer could work out getting rid of the warrant and resetting the Court date for a month or more later to give him time to get the funds to travel.  If he qualifies for the public defender to represent him, he could apply there (in the county where the case is) and have them help him (google Colorado Public Defender and find the office in the county his case is). I suppose he could also write to the court and request that he be allowed to appear at court by video.   All of that being said, he should check his Appearance Bond form, as it may say he cannot leave the state without court approval. If that is the case, and he is in Texas, without court approval, then he really needs to get a lawyer to make sure he does not do something that causes him even more problems. ... Read More

DAs can (and often do) prosecute people who did not commit the crime they are charghed with - because they get information from law enforcement that makes them beleive that they can prove the case. To be convicted of a crime you certainly must have beenproven to have done something to facilitate the crime being committed by these sub-leasees. ... Read More

A minor theft charge like that, espcially if it is your first time, sometimes gets resolved by a "deferred sentence''. That is a plea bargain where if you plead guilty at the beginning and agree to abide by certain conditions over a time period, then in the end, the guilty plea is withdrawn and the charge is dismissed so it does not end up with a conviction. The probation might be 12 months. The conditions might be that you attend a 'theft' class, do community service work, not violated the law, pay various costs, etc. ... Read More

If someone has stolen somthing from you then it is appropriate to report it to the police. If the police believe they can prove that he/ she took things from you, they will charge the person with Theft or maybe other charges as well.  If the person is convicted of Theft, it is likely the Court will order them to pay you for your loss as a part of their sentence in the case. If you prefer not to get the polcie invovled for some reason, you could sue the person in civil court for 'replevin' - i.e. recovery of items they have that are yours. If the value of the property is worth less than $7500 you could probably sue in small claims court and you can find those forms (normally lawyers are not invovled in small claims court) online on the Colorado State Court website under "Self Help" tab and locate 'small claims' forms.... Read More

You should talk to your probation officer because they will waive the fees they can if you qualify for the waiver - and any fees that have to be paid, the probation officer OR the court clerk in charge of 'collection' will work out a payment schedule you can live with.  They will not/ cannot revoke your probation due to an 'inability' to pay the fees. Talk to them. ... Read More

I suggest not talking further to the police until you have a lawyer.  Hire a lawyer sooner rather than later. Then tell the lawyer the full story, and what you told the police. The lawyer can help you decide whether it makes sense to talk any further or whether to take a polygraph. You never have to take a polygraph and there are lots of considerations in whether to take one or not, although the results are not admissible in court. However, the police may use the results to decide whethere to charge you with something.... Read More

There are many variables in what will actually be the result of such a situation - like the persons prior criminal record, the facts of the cases with the felonies, the reasons the person is alleged to have violated probation, etc. But of course, given that the cases are felonies and there are several of them, the result could be a prison sentence of a length decided by the judge. Also, a person might be eligible for 'community corrections' sentence (sentence to prison BUT placement in a halfway house). ... Read More

So long as the judge imposes a legal sentence - i.e. one not longer than allowed for the crime the preson is convicted of, it is probably allowed. However, under the circumstances, if your husband can get any documentation that he tried to turn himself in and they refused to take him, the judge is not likely to add time to the sentence.  I suppose one question woudl be when did the jail begin taking people again, and did your husband try to turn himself in after that point?... Read More

It often is not possible to find out if there is investigation or warrant, but sometimes it is possible to see a pending warrant in some circumstances, by checking the court's efiling system, but most often if there is not a law enforcement officer who has contacted you and left his/her name & contact information, there may be no way to find out.... Read More

If you are on bond, and there are conditions on the bond (like not drinking) and you do violate those conditions, it 'violates' the bond conditions and leads to the bond being revoked, thus resulting in you being jailed and having to re-visit bonding. So if you want to stay out of jail, it is best to comply with the conditions of your bond. It can repeatedly be revoked, if you repeatedly violate the conditions. And they COULD charge you with a new crime of 'vioating bond conditions'. ... Read More

First Degree Criminal Trespass is defined as 'knowingly and unlawfully enering or remaining in the dwelling of another'.  Voluntary intoxication is not a defense to this crime.  However, certainly being intoxicated may mitigate the seriousness of the offense in some ways.  Depending on your prior criminal record, if any, and the homeowners position on the case, it may be possible to work out a plea bargain that owuld not result in a permanent felony conviction on your record.  Our firm would, of course, be happy to help.    ... Read More

To work out a 'global disposition' where a person has multiple cases in multiple counties, takes getting the prosecutor assigned to each case, in each of the different counties, to talk to each other and work together to coordinate a resolution of all of the cases. That can be an agreement to treat a case in one county a certain way if a case in anotehr county is resoolved in a certain way - that type of thing. It is NOT easy to do - even as an attorney - and would be particularly hard to do as a person representing hiself. But I suppose it is possible to do.... Read More