March 2nd, 2010
On February 5, 2010, a Colorado criminal justice commission, consisting of judges, district attorneys and defense attorneys, voted on and approved a legislative proposal requiring jail for repeat DUI offenders in Colorado. This proposal would require a judge to sentence a person convicted of DUI or DWAI in Colorado to incarceration if he or she has a prior alcohol related driving offense. As the law currently is written, a person convicted of a second DUI or DWAI must be sentenced to incarceration, but a judge in Colorado may authorize an ankle bracelet with home confinement for the duration of that sentence. This proposal takes away a Colorado judge’s discretion to sentence a repeat DUI offender in-home detention or electronic home monitoring upon a second or subsequent DUI or DWAI conviction.
This bill, sponsored by Representative Claire Levy, a Boulder Democrat, comes on the heels of the recent criticism in the Denver Post regarding sentences that judges in Adams, Denver and Arapahoe Counties have given to multiple DUI offenders. This proposal will be presented to the state legislature and will likely be new Colorado law in the coming year.
Tags: DUI, jail, repeat offenses
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December 30th, 2009
Hundreds of DUI blood alcohol tests are being resubmitted for further testing after the Colorado Springs Metro Crime Lab’s tests were called into question. The El Paso district Attorney’s office has resubmitted over 1,000 blood samples for retesting in pending DUI cases since these discrepancies were found.
So far, no cause for the blood test discrepancies has been offered, but it has been reported the district attorney’s office and Colorado Bureau of Investigation are conducting investigations.
Tags: blood tests, colorado springs, DUI, evidence
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December 28th, 2009
If you are out driving in Colorado during the season, expect to be contacted by a police officer working DUI patrol. During the holiday season, DUI enforcement and DUI checkpoints in Colorado are intensified. The last thing someone wants to ring in the New Year with is a DUI arrest, but such arrests in Colorado during New Years Eve increase every year. New Years Eve, 2010 is not expected to be any different.
Unfortunately, there will be hundreds of drunk drivers on the roads to bring in 2010. Last year, police in Colorado made 569 DUI arrests in a week span between December 30, 2008 and January 5, 2009, according to CDOT’s website. This number was noticeably larger than the DUI arrest statistics for 2008. DUI enforcement in Colorado for January 1, 2010 will be just as intense, if not more so.
The increase in DUI enforcement in Colorado is based largely on tragic fatalities and editorials in the local media and on television in 2009. The increased DUI enforcement includes additional officers patrolling traffic, and an increase of roadside DUI checkpoints at various locations around the state.
The best advice anyone can adhere to for a safe New Year’s Eve is to make alternate arrangements for transportation, and to avoid putting oneself in a dubious situation, recommends Denver DUI attorney Jay Tiftickjian. “Once alcohol is in your system, your decision making ability is impaired. Therefore, it is always best to make your transportation arrangements prior to going out for the night.”
Tags: Checkpoints, Colorado, DUI, New Years Eve
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December 14th, 2009
A state commission created by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter deliberated and voted not to recommend a change in Colorado’s DUI law on December 11, 2009 that would have made incarceration mandatory for second DUI offenders. The Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice rejected a proposal requiring repeat offenders to be sentenced to at least 30 days for a second alcohol conviction and at least 60 days for a third offense, and in-home detention or alternative sentencing options would not be available to sentencing judges.
Under current Colorado DUI law, a second DUI or DWAI offense requires a mandatory jail sentence, but the judge has the option of imposing this sentence on electronic home monitoring, with work release, or through other arrangements.
In Colorado, unless there are aggravating facts such as an accident resulting in serious injury or death, a DUI is not a felony, and the maximum sentence is up to one year in a county jail. Other states have increased penalties for DUI offenses in recent years, including creating a felony for second offenses. For example, New York classifies a second DUI conviction within 10 years as a Class E felony.
Tags: DUI, felonies, incarceration, laws
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November 12th, 2009
In Colorado, a conviction for any type of drug sale or distribution of a controlled substance is considered to be an extraordinary risk crime, and therefore subject to a greater sentencing range for that class of felony. For example, a conviction for distribution of cocaine could land one in prison from between four and sixteen years in Colorado for a first offense, which is an enhanced sentence range for a class three felony.
However, on September 14th, the Colorado Supreme Court, in People v. Valenzuela, Jr., No. 08SC418, held that Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance, CRS § 18-18-405(1)(a), is not an extraordinary risk crime subject to the enhanced sentencing ranges as distribution, sale, possession with intent, or manufacturing are.
In Valenzuela, the defendant was sentenced to 32 years for his conviction for conspiracy to distribute a schedule II controlled substance based on his parole status at the time of the offense. This sentence was the most he could have received under the extraordinary risk sentencing range for a class three felony. Upon appeal, the Court held that the enhanced sentencing provisions of CRS 18-1.3-401 (10)(b) did not apply to the sentence for a conspiracy to distribute a schedule II controlled substance conviction. The defendant’s case was then sent back to the trial court for further proceedings.
Tags: Drug crime
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November 5th, 2009
Colorado is one of 45 states that participate in the Driver’s License Compact. The Driver’s License Compact is an agreement between states to report court convictions and administrative suspensions to the driver’s home state. A DUI or DWAI conviction in Colorado will likely have consequences to an out of state driver’s license.
Under the Driver’s License Compact, the home state of the driver is required to take action against a driver’s license as if the offense occurred in the driver’s home state. Therefore, it is difficult to avoid a driver’s license revocation if convicted for an alcohol related driving offense in another state. Colorado is required to report a DUI or DWAI conviction to another state if the driver had an out of state driver’s license. Even administrative DMV suspensions are required to be entered and reported to the home state.
The National Driver Register is the centralized computer database most states use to report convictions or revocations. This database contains information about individuals who have been revoked, suspended, or convicted of a serious traffic offense such as DUI, DWI, and DWAI. If there is a red flag in this database, the offender will have an action taken against their license in their home state or will be denied if applying for a license.
Tags: DUI, DWAI, DWI
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