The statute of limitations for a drug felony in Colorado is 3 years, meaning the DA has 3 years from the time of the offense to when they must file charges or the court loses jurisdiction. Note that this is filing charges, not the time for the case to be resolved. This can be tolled up to 5 years... View More

There have been a lot of recent and favorable changes in Colorado's sealing laws. The best way to determine if you're eligible to seal a conviction would be to research attorneys who handle sealing and call for a consultation. Having a copy of your record or other court documents with the... View More

What level of offense a criminal mischief charge is depends on the $ amount of damage allegedly caused - so it can range from the lowest misdemeanor to a relatively serious felony. Often the initial report isn't accurate or is just an estimate, and the DA will then amend the offense level when... View More

Opening the car door is a non-issue, as you only received a speeding ticket. Even if this was found to be an unlawful search, there is no evidence that could be suppressed related to your speeding charge.

If you are living in state but are an out of state student (paying out of state... View More

There is nothing that would automatically prevent a juror from serving on your jury simply because they have a pending case in another county or make this a conflict of interest. Generally speaking, the juror should not be talking on the phone during deliberations (which is likely why the other... View More

For this type of charge, there would never be a "victim"- the "victim" is the state, as the prosecutor said. There are many crimes like this- a DUI without an accident, for example, does not have a person who is a victim, the victim is the state as a whole, represented by the... View More

2nd Degree Burglary under C.R.S. 18-4-203 requires entry into a " building or occupied structure."

“Occupied structure” means any area, place, facility, or enclosure which, for particular purposes, may be used by persons or animals upon occasion, whether or not it is a... View More

If you can afford to hire an attorney, I would recommend doing so.

Your question is listed under Colorado, so my answer is based on the forms you need to complete in Colorado only.

If you cannot afford an attorney, go to www.courts.state.co.us, click on Self Help/Forms and then... View More

Yes, you will be required to register as a sex offender. If you have a prior conviction for an unlawful sexual offense you will be required to register for life. If you are convicted of the Class 1 Misdemeanor charge of Unlawful Sexual Contact 18-3-404, you can petition to de-register after 10... View More

If you left the state without permission from probation, they will file a motion to revoke your probation and a warrant for your arrest. If you have finished almost everything, they may be willing to set a bond you can post on the warrant and let you finish probation successful, or terminate you... View More

If you only drove on the shoulder to avoid an accident, you should not receive a ticket. It is fairly common to see cars swerve into an open shoulder to avoid being rear-ended on I-25 in traffic that is sadly heavily populated by drivers like the one you described. If the other driver accelerated... View More

At this point, you have been charged, so at a minimum the police determined there was probable cause for a criminal offense. There are a number of ways child abuse can be charged without requiring proof of any injury, and a domestic violence tag on a charge (domestic violence is not a charge but a... View More

Public defenders are lawyers, and often very good ones. A private attorney generally will have more time- as you are paying them for their time- and a lower caseload, but a public defender has the advantage of being in the same courtroom every day and knowing how the judge and prosecutor will act.... View More

Payment of restitution can be a condition of probation, and you can be arrested for violating probation by failing to pay restitution. If you were to contest the revocation of probation, the prosecution would need to prove at a hearing to a judge that this was a willful non-payment and you had the... View More

It depends. In most cases, the warrant is issued quickly and you will be charged with the Escape case at around the same time you are in court to be re-sentenced to DOC on the remainder of your time. It does happen that there is a delay and the Escape charge will not show until you are re-paroled... View More

You are mostly correct. Colorado prohibits carrying a concealed weapon, including a knife, under C.R.S 18-12-105. A knife is a blade less than 3.5 inches: C.R.S 18-12-101(1)(f) defines a "knife" as follows: "Knife" means any dagger, dirk, knife, or stiletto with a blade over... View More

Unless you are acting in self defense (acting reasonably against an imminent threat of injury to you or another) and did not provoke the fight, you could be charged with a wide range of offenses, depending on the severity of any injuries inflicted. A simple shove or push that does not cause pain... View More

If you were convicted, you cannot get the case dismissed post-conviction. You also cannot seal or expunge a felony conviction for this type of charge. There are a number of ways you could attempt to re-open the case, such as an appeal for ineffective assistance of counsel, but if 5 years have... View More