Criminal Defense

2012 was a year of gun violence in the national media and particularly in Colorado. In response, Colorado lawmakers have been working on a package of gun control bills to try and prevent future gun violence in the state. They will have to balance two interests: the safety of Coloradoans and the right to...

Authorities have recently taken notice of an unusual “crime spree” taking place in Colorado. Apparently millions of dollars worth of Tide laundry detergent are being stolen from stores and sold on the black market. One man allegedly took $8,000 worth of the detergent in Colorado and police are still looking for him. Much of...

Colorado’s lawmakers are considering legislation that would make it illegal to kill or injure a woman’s unborn child. Such an offense would probably often be connected to charges of violence against the child’s mother, whose injury or death may lead to the child’s. House Democrats support the idea of such legislation but killed a...

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution gives all Americans protections against unwarranted search and seizure of their person and their property. At the core of this Amendment is the belief that innocent people should not have to fear for their privacy in personal spaces like their homes. However, sometimes law enforcement officials...

Two high-profile cases of severe misconduct at state crime labs made headlines during 2012, raising concerns about a sector of the criminal justice system that is often ignored despite being frighteningly underregulated. One technician failed to identify and test significant DNA evidence in rape kits, leading to a review of over 800 cases in...

Last week we discussed the struggle that courts across the country are facing as they try to determine what, if any, privacy protections apply to data stored on cell phones. Different courts seem unable to agree on how cell phone evidence should be treated in criminal cases and to whom that information belongs. A...

Many people carry their entire lives around in their phone. A cell phone can hold a person’s appointments, photos, location and communications with everyone they know.The Constitution grants all Americans certain fundamental rights, including protections against unreasonable or warrantless search and seizure in the Fourth Amendment. But is a person’s cell phone protected as...