Colorado Springs Legal Issues Blog

Finding yourself charged with domestic violence may leave you questioning how. You may not have lifted a finger to harm anyone, but nevertheless, the police arrested and charged you as if you had.

Domestic violence is not a singular charge. No act of violence needs to occur for you to find yourself in cuffs. It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with what Colorado defines as domestic violence, so you understand your situation.

A 35-year-old man who spent six years in prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting a 7-year-old girl will receive a new trial. He appeared at an arraignment hearing in a Colorado courtroom on Feb. 3 and will remain free until he appears in court again on a $25,000 bond. He would not have been eligible for parole until 2024 under the terms of his 2013 custodial sentence of 12 years to life.

The man's case turned in July 2019 when the Colorado Supreme Court concluded that one of the detectives who questioned him used coercive techniques. The detective involved was fired in 2015 for having sexual relations with a crime victim and then lying about it. He was subsequently sentenced to four years of probation after pleading guilty to an official misconduct charge. The court reached its decision after learning that the detective told the man that he would likely be released if he accepted at least some degree of guilt.

Seeing blue light flashing in your rear-view mirror proves highly unnerving. If your traffic stop ends up leading to a charge of driving while under the influence, you may find yourself facing considerable trouble. The state of Colorado takes drunk driving extremely seriously, and the penalties you should expect to face in the aftermath are numerous.

Even if it is your first time facing a drinking and driving-related charge, you could potentially face jail time, a license suspension, big fines and points on your driving record, among other potential penalties. Many of these repercussions impact your wallet. Insure.com reports that the financial implications relating to your DUI arrest are not likely to go away anytime soon.

When people in Colorado are arrested by the police, they should receive mandatory warnings that remind them of their right to protection from self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment. Called Miranda warnings, this list of rights is associated with a 1966 Supreme Court case that affirmed a person's right to be warned of their constitutional protections when taken into police custody. People arrested for criminal charges must be told that they have the right to remain silent, that their words could be used against them in court later, that they have the right to an attorney and that a lawyer will be appointed for those who cannot afford their own.

These rights are a simple breakdown of Fifth Amendment protections, reminding people that they do not have to talk with the police and can ask for a lawyer no matter what tactics the police may use to extract confessions or further information during an interrogation. Many people are familiar with the concept of reading a person's rights, especially because the moment is frequently featured in police dramas in movies or television. However, when people are arrested, they may not be sure how these warnings affect their own criminal charges.