Frequently Asked Questions

In my earlier blog post, I wrote about what a criminal defense attorney does. So what might the opposite of that be? Meaning, if I represent people who are charged with crimes, who represents the victims? While it’s not a true legal term, what people are looking for...

As a criminal defense attorney, sometimes I get requests from prospective clients who seem a bit confused about what kind of law I practice. For example, I’ll occasionally get calls from people who say something like: “I was sexually assaulted. Can you help me go...

Sometimes I get phone calls from people who contact me because they’re afraid they’re in trouble with the law, and if I ask them “Are you facing criminal charges?” they answer “I’m not sure.” While it might sound ridiculous to even ask the question, it is worth...

Two similar charges that are often confused with each other are CRS 18-3-204 Third-Degree Assault and CRS 18-3-206 Menacing. While the situations surrounding these crimes are often identical, the actual charges are based on two very different sets of events occurring....

One of the more common assumptions people make about criminal law (probably due to watching too many Hollywood movies) is: "if I get arrested, don't I get one free phone call from jail?" This is a complicated issue: it's interesting because there used to be an...

If you've been arrested or have criminal charges, you should absolutely get off of all social media. Make no statements to anybody about anything; you've got to just clam up and not say anything online. (Side note: if you're being charged with sex offenses, the rules...

First of all, records expungement and records sealing are exactly the same things. "Expunged" and "sealed" are terms that can be used interchangeably. Second, what having your records expunged or sealed means is that they won't show up during a background check and...

The concept of bail bonds is relatively straightforward, but there are some nuances you might not expect. For example, something that might shock you is that people living in America who are not American citizens can post bail, BUT... there's bad news for them,...

Mitigation is an often misunderstood topic because, in general, clients are focused on trying to get out of hot water but don't know how, or they're completely focused on whether they actually "did it" or "didn't do it." Or even if they did commit a crime, they're...

Anybody who is facing a possession with a controlled substance charge has been caught allegedly holding illegal drugs. Depending on what schedule it is, whether it's a schedule II or schedule IV, you are going to have a different charge, but it also depends on how...

Interestingly, a lot of attorneys don't know the bail bonding process, and it's only through trial and error that we learn how it works. But basically, here's how bail bonds work and how a criminal defense attorney like me gets involved in the process. First of all,...

First and foremost, I am not an immigration law attorney. And as I like to say, I know just enough to be dangerous. Having said that, in general, for someone who is not in the USA legally and doesn't have documentation, or, even if they do have documentation, but...

This is a far more complex question than it might first seem. For example, I recently pleaded a client to a drug felony, and I knew the consequences of that, but the judge actually had to look it up. In general, there is mostly no functional difference between...

Something many people are confused about is: when a police officer shows up at your house to ask you questions, what should you say? Here's what I tell people: never speak to the cops. There are very limited exceptions to that rule, but in general, if the cops are...