Getting arrested for DUI does not mean you will be convicted. Police misconduct, defective breathalyzers and crime lab mistakes may be enough to get your charges lessened or dismissed. Visit our page on Colorado DUI Laws to learn more.
Colorado DUI
Getting arrested for DUI does not mean you will be convicted. Police misconduct, defective breathalyzers and crime lab mistakes may be enough to get your charges lessened or dismissed. Visit our page on Colorado DUI Laws to learn more.
Colorado In-Depth
It is normal to be frightened and overwhelmed following an arrest. Therefore our lawyers are devoted to demystifying major topics in Colorado criminal defense law.
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The “exclusionary rule” allows judges in Colorado criminal cases to disregard (“exclude“) evidence that police have illegally obtained.
Police are required to adhere to the Fourth Amendment‘s prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures when conducting searches. In general, police must secure a Colorado search warrant before executing a search.1
For these search warrants to be valid, they must indicate with specificity the locations to be searched and the items to be seized, and they must be supported with probable cause that a crime has taken place. Unsupported, vague, or overbroad search warrants can be voided as unconstitutional.2
Even if a search warrant is valid, police may not go beyond the bounds of the warrant (with some exceptions). Police who do not have a legal reason to search and seize property outside the bounds of the warrant are violating the Fourth Amendment.3
Meanwhile, police searches done without a warrant are usually unlawful unless the circumstances fall under a legal exception, such as:
In short, police must respect people’s reasonable expectation of privacy and may not execute searches without meeting Fourth Amendment prerequisites.
When a person is charged with a crime, the defense attorney will investigate whether the evidence against the defendant was lawfully obtained through a legal search.
If any evidence had been procured in contravention of the Fourth Amendment, the defense attorney would file a motion to suppress evidence with the court.
The theory behind motions to suppress is that any evidence found through an unlawful search is tainted. Therefore, it is only fair for a judge to hold this unlawfully-obtained evidence as inadmissible (“suppressed”) at trial.
Note that the exclusionary rule applies to the original evidence that was illegally obtained and any new evidence that the illegally-obtained evidence leads police to (“the fruit of the poisonous tree“).
There are some exceptions to the exclusionary rule where evidence that was illegally obtained could still be admitted at trial:
Colorado courts typically hold hearings to decide whether or not to admit evidence that may have been illegally obtained. The prosecution presents evidence arguing why the evidence should be admitted, and the defense attorney argues why the evidence should be suppressed.
If the judge decides to suppress the evidence, the prosecution may be left with insufficient evidence to win a guilty verdict at trial.
Maybe. Even if you have a Colorado permit to carry a concealed weapon, a peace officer may temporarily disarm you during a lawful stop, but only if the officer has an articulable suspicion of criminal activity.
If an officer disarms a person and does not arrest the party, then the officer must return the weapon after conducting the search.
Michael Becker has over a quarter-century's worth of experience as an attorney and more than 100 trials under his belt. He is a sought-after legal commentator and is licensed to practice law in Colorado, Nevada, California, and Florida.