Denver Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

Denver police arrested an area man and accused him of causing a February 11 hit-and-run accident that left two victims seriously injured. The arrest came after police alerted the public to be on the lookout for a red 1997 Mercury Mountaineer with extensive front-end damage such as would be caused by a high-impact crash. The accident occurred near Federal Boulevard and Alameda Avenue just after midnight on February 11.

The vehicle had been seen by witnesses at the scene as heading south on Federal Boulevard at a relatively high rate of speed. The vehicle was found several hours later at the intersection of Federal Boulevard and 2^nd avenue in Denver. Police were able to apprehend the subject at that time, and an arrest was made on suspicion of vehicular assault and felony hit-and-run since the driver of the Mountaineer fled the scene of the accident.

Denver police arrested Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno on Feb. 1 on suspicion of drinking and driving after pulling him over near a construction zone on Interstate 25. The car Moreno was driving reportedly has a vanity plate that reads "SAUCED." It remains to be seen whether the license plate may have factored into officers' decision to pull him over.

The day he was arrested, Moreno was driving a Bentley on I-70 near Quincy Avenue and Union Avenue, travelling about 70 miles per hour, media reports claim. If true, that would put him slightly over the posted speed limit of 65 miles per hour, though with construction underway on that stretch of the interstate the speed limit is currently reduced to 45 miles per hour.

The trial of the owner of a pair of Colorado paving and resurfacing companies ended on Feb. 6 with the defendant found guilty of committing fraud against the government of Adams County. Prosecutors had accused the man of charging the county too much for some jobs and charging for jobs that were not done for a total of "hundreds of thousands of dollars," according to The Denver Post.

The jury deliberated about four hours before returning a guilty verdict. They found the defendant, the owner of Quality Paving and Quality Resurfacing, guilty of 23 counts of fraud. Relying in large part on the testimony of a former employee, the jury found that the defendant made secret deals with the Adams County construction manager and the county's former public works director to be paid more for paving jobs than they were worth. Sometimes, the companies accepted money for nonexistent projects.

Colorado Springs' St. Gabriel the Archangel Church recently announced the retirement of a catholic priest who was accused of the sexual assault of a minor. The priest was planning on retiring this spring but his retirement was rushed after he was placed under investigation for allegedly sexually assaulting a child. The allegations caused the priest to be suspended and placed on administrative leave.

This case shows that even the hint of criminal charges can have serious consequences for a person's career. Professionals whose careers depend on their clean criminal records and reputation for honesty can have very dramatic negative job consequences once authorities begin to publicize an investigation. Regardless of the truth of any allegations, the mere implication of malfeasance can be severe, especially when allegations involve sex crimes.

Six days after pulling over Colorado Rep. Laura Bradford on suspicion of DUI, Denver police admitted that an officer who claimed that Bradford avoided arrest by invoking a little-known law lied. Bradford, who was not arrested, apologized on the floor of the state House for the incident, but said that she was not legally intoxicated the night of the traffic stop.

However, House Republican leaders said they would proceed with an ethics investigation into the incident, despite the Denver police sergeant recanting his story. The sergeant had claimed that Bradford told the police officers at the scene that they could not give her a breath test under legislative immunity. Legislative immunity is a clause in the Colorado constitution that, if invoked, protects legislators from arrest on suspicion of misdemeanor violations.

The former district attorney for Colorado's 7^th Judicial District was sentenced to one year in prison on Jan. 19 after pleading no contest to unlawful sexual contact and criminal extortion. Prosecutors accused the man of sexually harassing and assaulting three of his employees. During the sentencing hearing, the defendant said the sexual contact he had with the women was consensual, though he admitted that his actions were "inappropriate" and possibly due to an emotional disorder.

The former district attorney was arrested in September 2010 on suspicion of unlawful sexual contact with force, criminal extortion, indecent exposure and official misconduct. Three women who worked at the district attorney's Montrose and Delta, Colorado, offices accused the man of several sexually inappropriate incidents. One of the women testified that the defendant approached her, touched her breast and forced her to touch his genitals in April 2010.

A massive police raid of 25 Denver metro area homes on Jan. 25 that resulted in 16 people being arrested may have netted a number of people legally authorized to distribute marijuana, a local criminal defense attorney said. If true, the arrests indicate the continuing confusion surrounding Colorado's medical marijuana laws.

The raids took place in the city of Denver, plus nearby cities such as Broomfield, Erie and Breckenridge and Adams and Weld counties. Authorities claim that the arrested people were part of a network of marijuana dealers that distributed the drug across the country. The use of the U.S. mail system may be the reason some of the accused were indicted on racketeering charges. Other charges include marijuana distribution and money laundering.

A 21-year-old Longmont, Colorado, woman has been accused by local authorities of accepting an offer of a $10,000 reward to help a Kentucky man find his former girlfriend. Longmont police arrested the woman on Jan. 14 on suspicion of conspiracy to commit stalking. The former girlfriend told police that she had moved to Colorado because her former boyfriend, who was also arrested the same day on stalking and domestic violence charges, was abusive to her.

The female suspect and the former girlfriend were neighbors and friends in a Longmont apartment building. Police said that the former girlfriend told the suspect that the male suspect had abused her and that she had custody of the child the two had had together. The former girlfriend had reportedly moved to Colorado to get away from the man and was trying to change her name and Social Security number, though it is not clear the 21-year-old was aware of that.