Misdemeanor Defense in Colorado

Alexis explains: "immediately um because that is one thing that is incredibly crucial as far as timing for duis go the actual criminal side of things takes a lot longer to get to the court system awesome cool oh learn something every day um so once we are called and we are hired what happens after that with a dui case so every law firm operates a little differently i can tell you what right that's definitely um what we do at wright law group is we are really big on being very very communicative with our clients we make sure that our clients can text us call us email us facebook us whatever they need to do we actually have had a couple of clients call us from the back"

Right Law Group's guide explains: "Bail and Pretrial Release // Right Law Group When arrested and charged with a crime, your Fourth Amendment right requires you to obtain an initial appearance before a district court judge within 48 hours."

Alexis explains: "dui cases you're going to have to go if you are convicted or take a plea for anything that is an alcohol related offense if it's the dui if it's a dwai even if it's what we call a wet reckless if you have any of those please you have to do alcohol treatment and therapy"

Right Law Group's guide explains: "you may face fines, court costs, jail time, and community service, and you might lose at least some driving privileges – possibly all of them"

Right Law Group's guide explains: "you may face fines, court costs, jail time, and community service, and you might lose at least some driving privileges – possibly all of them."

The express consent affidavit is a specific form tied to your DUI stop and what happens with your license. Alexis explains: "there's going to be a sheet of paper the DUI officer fills out, and it's called the Express Consent Affidavit form. What this is, is they're gonna be going over whether you choose to do a breath test, a blood test, or whether you refuse. And this is what's sent to the Department of Motor Vehicles to determine how they proceed." In her description, the DUI officer fills out the form, and it records whether you chose a breath test, a blood test, or a refusal. Alexis notes that this is the document sent to the Department of Motor Vehicles to determine how they proceed. The DUI statute it ties back to is C.R.S. 42-4-1301, available at https://hub.rightlawgroup.com/statutes/crs-42-4-1301.

Colorado lowered the felony threshold for fentanyl. Under C.R.S. 18-18-403.5, knowingly possessing a material, compound, or mixture that weighs more than one gram and not more than four grams and contains any quantity of fentanyl, carfentanil, or a related compound is a level 4 drug felony, effective July 1, 2022. For most other schedule I and II substances, simple possession up to four grams is a level 1 drug misdemeanor. The one-gram fentanyl trigger is far lower than the general four-gram line, so a small amount that would be a misdemeanor for another drug can be a felony when it contains fentanyl.

Being a felon carries consequences well beyond the sentence itself, reaching into many parts of daily life. Alexis explains: "So, collateral consequences when it comes to felonies can be wide ranging. Can be impact on employment, getting jobs, getting certifications from the government. If you possess a professional license, it could prevent you from keeping that license and being able to work in a field of your choice. It can have an impact on trying to secure housing. And then also in the community, being a felon can have a stigma with family, friends, and the community that can have an impact on your life in addition to those that could be housing or employment. Travel to foreign countries can be impacted by a felony conviction." She calls these collateral consequences and describes them as wide ranging. They include employment, government certifications, professional licenses, securing housing, and even travel to foreign countries. She also notes a felony can carry a stigma with family, friends, and the community that affects your life on top of the housing and employment effects.

Right Law Group's guide explains: "The costs of DUI go far beyond lawyer fees and court costs. If you find yourself facing your first DUI in Colorado , you might be hoping for some leniency."

Alexis explains: "the end point because a lot of my clients that i've worked with over the years don't want to be on supervised probation because they don't want a probation officer breathing down the neck which makes sense and probation costs money so if they're doing all these things in advance it can keep it so that they don't have to have a supervisor on probation they can do what's called unsupervised probation um and be able to just turn in everything either to the law firm to the courts directly oh perfect perfect yeah i was gonna say like we really like to jump get proactive get ahead of it come up to court ready to go we already have stuff um handled so"

Right Law Group's guide explains: "You’ve been charged with drug possession based on lab test results that identified the substance as an illegal drug. The prosecution treats those lab findings as absolute truth."

Alexis explains: "going to ask you if you want to take a breath or a blood test now this is something that a lot of people get confused on in the state of colorado you absolutely have the right to refuse testing some police will tell you that you can't refuse but you can you can say no i don't want to do any kind of test there are different questions as to whether you should do a test or not"

Alexis explains: "So, if you're looking at possession of an illegal drug, so it could be something like heroin or something like a a large amount of marijuana or a large amount of mushrooms. Um, or a large amount of any classified substance could be considered a drug misdemeanor depending on the type of drug and depending on the amount of the drugs the person has."

Right Law Group's guide explains: "According to the Colorado Department of Transport, the average DUI lawyer cost in Colorado is $3,650. Not much of a price tag when you factor in that first-offense DUIs in Colorado cost an average of $13,530 when all the costs are tallied."

Right Law Group's guide explains: "Living in Castle Rock, you likely enjoy the beautiful parks and trails that wind through our community. However, a simple mistake could land you with a trespassing charge and serious legal consequences."

Right Law Group's guide explains: "you can lose your license for up to nine months, spend up to a year in jail, and end up spending thousands in court costs and related fees."

Alexis explains: "Colorado has actually passed a new bill that is bringing our felony level drug charges down to misdemeanors"

Alexis explains: "so beginning in March first Colorado has actually passed a new bill that is bringing our felony level drug charges down to misdemeanors so what we had before is we would have people coming in with like two or three grams of heroin or meth and they were charged as felons now that's only going to be a misdemeanor everything under four grams of methamphetamine cocaine heroin anything like that is being charged as a misdemeanor"

In a verified client review: "When I needed representation within a week they were there for me immediately and I didn't need to show up for certain hearings."

Alexis explains: "so they'll also ask to put you through some things that are called sfsts it's standard field sobriety tests a lot of you probably have seen these it's things like doing a walk and turn test standing on one leg some some people still do the touch your nose even though that's not standardized but going through these tests you can do them if you want but you do have the right to refuse to do them they're also"

Alexis explains: "a lot of first-time offenders will only have to keep an interlock device installed in their car for nine months"

Right Law Group's guide explains: "According to the Colorado Department of Transport, the average DUI lawyer cost in Colorado is $3,650."

Alexis explains: "another question that well just more give you guys information of what also comes along with dui charges do you just get pulled over you get a dui is it only people are also speeding is it are there typical general combined charges with that that is a great question i can talk all day about this i'll try to be brief yeah so the basic idea is the police cannot contact you without a reason um in legalese we call it reasonable articulable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot"

Alexis explains: "you have the right not to incriminate yourself you have the right not to say anything that is going to in any way hurt you but a lot of the times they're asking because they think that you have had something to drink so you have to make that decision as to whether or not you want to admit that you've been drinking or not you do have to remember though anything you say to the police can and will be used against you"