PT4M33S
“if you or your loved one is facing domestic violence charges you may have heard something called the fast track program or the idea that domestic violence cases in colorado are fast-tracked i want to delve into what that actually means both legally and realistically so that you can get a little bit further understanding of what a fast track dv case in colorado looks like”
“in the state of colorado there is a mandatory arrest law that says if there is an allegation of domestic violence and there's probable cause that a domestic violence charge has occurred the person must be remanded in other words they must be taken into jail taken into custody immediately there are no ifs and buts mandatory arrest laws says if there's a db charge and there's probable cause for it that person's getting arrested”
“what that means is we end up with a lot of people in jail who don't deserve to be in jail people with first-time offenses people with minor domestic cases that really should never have been an issue except for they were doing something they shouldn't have been like maybe they were yelling too loudly or they were they were texting too much you can be thrown in jail for a domestic violence charge for any a range of charges”
“anytime that you're charged with a domestic violence charge you must be seen in front of a judge in order to argue bond as quickly as possible the general rule of thumb is between 24 to 72 hours now technically it should be before 24 if there's any way possible but with the weekends and different docket loads it could take longer generally speaking though within the first three days that you are arrested you will be appearing before either a judge or magistrate in order to be given a bond the reason i say given a bond is because that mandatory arrest law in colorado exists you are placed on a no bond hold until a bond can be set in your domestic violence case”
“if you know anything about bonds and other charges let's say for example there's a drug charge and an arrest warrant goes out saying okay we're going to place a 50 000 bond on this person if they get picked up they have to pay 50 000 to get out in domestic violence cases it doesn't work that way if you're arrested there is no bond set you have to wait until your hearing to even get a bond set so that's why these programs are fast tracked to allow that person to have the opportunity to argue bond as soon as possible”
“at that date the the named victim or the alleged victim the person who is the one who either called the police or the person that's the one that's described as being the victim in the case has the opportunity to say what they want the judge or the magistrate to know about bond in this case now under the colorado constitution victims have rights in domestic violence cases just as much as defendants do they have the right to be heard they have the right to appear at hearings they have the right to have input on what the district attorney offers in charges”
“victims have the right to appear at this date for the bond being set and any modifications made that's why it takes a little bit of time because the dea has to reach out and make contact with the victim to get their input at that bond hearing a bond is then set based on typical bond schedules and based on the person's criminal history or lack thereof their stability their involvement in the community and the severity of the charges now once the bond has been set the person can then bond out there are a couple of different kinds of bonds that we go into in more detail in other videos but once the bond has been set they can bond and then there's another court date that follows very quickly thereafter that is an advisement date where they have to sign their protection order in the domestic violence case”
“the person is put into jail they're given a volunteering and then they're immediately given a court date thereafter and things happen in very quick succession so that's why we say it's a fast track program because it's the best way i describe it is it's kind of a hurry up and wait situation so when you're charged things will happen very very quickly but once you get to that final court date where you're getting advised of the charges that are being filed against you you have your protection order then the case starts to move in the normal course and generally what we see at least here in colorado is cases typically are set about three to five weeks out depending on the judge's docket”
“in the state of colorado there is a mandatory arrest law that says if there is an allegation of domestic violence and there's probable cause that a domestic violence charge has occurred the person must be remanded in other words they must be taken into jail taken into custody immediately there are no ifs and buts”
“you must be seen in front of a judge in order to argue bond as quickly as possible the general rule of thumb is between 24 to 72 hours now technically it should be before 24 if there's any way possible”
“that's why we say it's a fast track program because it's the best way i describe it is it's kind of a hurry up and wait situation so when you're charged things will happen very very quickly”
“what that means is we end up with a lot of people in jail who don't deserve to be in jail people with first-time offenses people with minor domestic cases that really should never have been an issue”
“you have that first just initial hell week to be quite frank you go through all of this you go to court multiple times you're dealing with all of it and then it gets into more of that typical docket rhythm that we see with other cases”