Victims Rights Act (VRA)

Alexis explains: "if there's a sentencing set they have to be notified before the sentencing can happen and if someone is asking to have a case sealed they have to be notified before that case can actually be sealed"

Alexis explains: "opinion doesn't mean they get the last say the district attorney in the state of colorado is the entity that charges someone with a domestic violence charge but under the bra the victims have the right to be heard they don't have the right to be listened to necessarily so for example if someone gets charged with a harassment case the lowest level domestic violence charge that we typically see where they were texting too much and the victim in the case says i want this person to go to prison they have the right to be heard on that but the da is not going to listen to that"

Alexis explains: "that's why having an attorney on your side is so important because we know those different times that they have to be notified we can reach out in advance and make sure the da is doing their job so that we can do right by you and make sure that your case is handled in the most efficient way possible"

Alexis explains: "the defendant in that case cannot argue without vra being complied with in other words if the da doesn't do their job and reach out to the victim the defendant sits there and waits until the district attorney actually reaches out to the victim and gets their input"

Alexis explains: "the mandatory dates are any kind of bond or advisement hearing anytime a bond is going to be changed or there's going to be an argument made to try to change a bond the victim in the dv case has the right to be heard on that issue if they're not coming to court they still have to be notified by the district attorney that this is going to happen because the defendant in that case cannot argue without vra being complied with"

Alexis explains: "the victims have the right to be heard they don't have the right to be listened to necessarily"

Alexis explains: "the victims have to be notified of bond requests or any modifications they often have to be notified of any potential plea offer that the da is wanting to make so even if your attorney is fantastic and does a great job and gets you exactly what you want if the da hasn't talked to the victim and at least let them know what the offer is going to be we don't get to resolve the case that day we have to wait for the victim to be notified as to what's going to happen"

Alexis explains: "the vra stands for victims rights act it's a colorado constitutional amendment that says victims have rights in domestic violence cases just as much as defendants have rights victims have protected rights too now it's not the same type of rights and i want to go through what those rights are but in essence what it means is if someone is an alleged victim in a case they have the right to be heard they have the right to know what's happening in the case and they have the right to be kept informed throughout the progress of the case"

Alexis explains: "Unfortunately, in domestic violence cases, you don't automatically get to bond out, because in Colorado, there's a provision of the Colorado constitution called the Victims' Rights Act. Under that act, a victim or an alleged victim in a domestic violence case has the right to be heard on the issues in this case and has the right to be updated as far as what's going on. So, the district attorneys are required to let the victim in the case know what the charges are and get their opinion on bond before you are allowed to be heard on bond."