Criminal Defense
Crime Reports in Colorado Rose Slightly in 2013
News reports about the state of crime in Colorado since the passage of Colorado’s marijuana legalization measures have portrayed a state in which crime is down and tax revenues are up. In 2013, however, crime reports throughout the state rose slightly, according to a report from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
According to the CBI report, crime reports rose 1.8 percent for all crimes over the 2012 total. The report includes the annual Crime Index, which tracks seven different criminal offenses. Because the same seven offenses are used from year to year, the index is often used to track fluctuations in their rate over time. Simple possession of marijuana is not one of the seven offenses included in the Crime Index.
Preparing For Your First Meeting with Your Colorado Criminal Defense Attorney
When you first meet with your Colorado Springs criminal defense attorney, you may feel frustrated, confused, or overwhelmed. You may not know which questions to ask, or you may have so many questions you don’t know where to start.
All these feelings are normal. To prepare for your first meeting with your criminal defense lawyer, consider the following tips:
Think of the meeting as the start of your defense. Throughout the process, you and your attorney will work together to protect your legal rights to the fullest extent possible, and to fight for the best possible outcome in your case. Think of this partnership’s “start date” as the day of your meeting with your attorney. To represent you in the best possible way, your attorney will need plenty of information about you and about what happened when you were arrested.
Four Tips for Choosing a Colorado Criminal Defense Attorney
Facing a criminal charge is tough. You may feel confused, frustrated, or overwhelmed. A criminal charge does not necessarily equate to guilt, yet it can negatively affect many areas of your life.
Choosing a criminal defense attorney with whom you feel comfortable and confident can help you tackle the challenge of a criminal charge head-on. If you’ve been accused of a crime in Colorado and you need to find a lawyer who can stand with you, keep the following tips in mind:
Colorado Legislature Looks at New Cyberbullying Law
The Colorado legislature is considering a new bill that, if passed, will make online bullying behavior a crime, according to a recent CBS News report.
The bill passed unanimously through the House Education Committee recently, after lawmakers heard testimony from teens who were bullied via social media and other online sources. The bill will have to face one more committee vote before it can be submitted to the entire House for consideration. If the House accepts it, the bill will also have to be passed by the Senate and signed by Colorado governor John Hickenlooper before it becomes law.
Are You Ready for 2014? Top 5 New Year’s Resolutions
The New Year is always the time when we look at the past year and look forward to the birth of a new year. It’s not just a time to reflect on the changes we want to make in our lives, but also a time to resolve to follow through on those changes and make our dreams and wishes a reality. Here is a Top 5 list of New Year resolutions. See if your resolutions made the list:
- Lose weight and get fit: This is consistently on the top 5 list and is a good one for everyone to have. Weight loss and fitness are not just one-time goals. Maintaining weight loss is often more difficult than getting off the weight. So, losing weight and getting fit should be part of a lifestyle instead of a one-time affair.
Using Your Constitutional Rights: Protection During a Colorado Trial
This is the second part of a two-part blog series on your Constitutional rights as a Colorado citizen accused of a crime. Your rights during an arrest can be seen in the first part of the series.
Trials are complicated matters. Without fully knowing your rights, you may take actions that harm your case. As such, having complete knowledge of how the U.S. Constitution aids you and protects you throughout a trial.
Protecting Yourself During a Trial
Most people know that the U.S. Constitution provides that all defendants are innocent until proven guilty. However, there are many other rights that protect you as you fight back against charges from the prosecution. Knowing these can help you stay protected and have the best chances at success.
Using Your Constitutional Rights: Protection During Arrest in Colorado
This is the first part of a two-part blog series on Constitutional rights and your legal avenues as a Colorado citizen accused of a crime.
If you have been arrested in Colorado Springs, you may feel as if your rights have been taken away from you. It is important to remain calm and remember that you are innocent until proven guilty. Not only that, but the U.S. Constitution provides you with many different rights in the event that you are accused of a crime.
Rights in the Event of an Arrest
Being aware of your legal rights can go a long way in protecting you from manipulative or deceptive statements or actions by law enforcement or the prosecution. Here are a few protections for persons accused of a crime as afforded by the U.S. Constitution:
Supreme Court Rules DNA Samples May be Taken on Arrest
The U.S. Supreme Court recently held that police officers may take a DNA sample from individuals arrested on suspicion of crime, using a cheek swab to collect cells for analysis.
The case heard by the Court focused on a 2009 Maryland case in which a man was arrested on suspicion of assault. The police took a DNA sample along with photographs and fingerprints while booking him at the local jail. Upon testing the DNA sample, they found that it matched a sample collected from the scene of an unsolved rape case that had occurred in 2008.
FBI, Colorado Police Statistics Paint Two Different Scenes of Crime in Denver
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, violent crime in Denver decreased in 2012, but property crime increased – a pattern that defied national trends, in which violent crime increased but property crime fell. However, this image of crime statistics in Denver differs from that painted by the local police department, which states that crime overall increased by 4.3 percent in the city in the past year.
The FBI’s preliminary report found that throughout the United States, violent crime rates rose 1.2 percent and property crime rates fell 0.8 percent. In Denver, however, the FBI found that violent crime rates dropped 3.6 percent – but the Denver police found that these rates rose 9.3 percent in the same time period.
The difference was smaller between the FBI’s and the Denver police’s numbers for property crimes. The FBI estimated that property crime rose 3.3 percent in Denver in 2012, while the local police estimated that property crimes rose 3.4 percent.The FBI notes that its report for 2012 is preliminary; the final report may more closely resemble the findings of the Denver police. According to the Denver police force, the FBI’s tracking of crime statistics isn’t as comprehensive as local reports, which may account for the discrepancies.