PT12M5S
“What we have in Colorado is what's called a mandatory arrest law. So, when there is an act of domestic violence committed, there is a mandatory arrest. However, this is where it gets tricky for law enforcement officers. The law does not state that you must make an arrest no matter what.”
“The actual definition of what domestic violence is is someone exercising power and control over another person in an intimate relationship setting. An intimate relationship doesn't even mean that you're having sex.”
“you can't be charged with just domestic violence in general. Domestic violence is an enhancer, something that they add onto an already existing criminal charge.”
“For example, the charge of harassment. So, if you slap someone across the face, that is harassment, it's a strike, shove, kick. If you are charged with harassment, and let's say you're out at a bar having a drink with a buddy and you get real pissed off, and obviously I'm hoping you're not going around slapping your buddies in the face, but if you do something and you hit them, that can be harassment, so long as you don't actually cause serious pain to them.”
“in Colorado, there is a provision that says that, as soon as domestic violence is charged, a protection order, a mandatory protection order goes into place. It's governed by the statute 18-1-1001. Now, in Colorado Springs, what happens is you are prohibited, when you have this protection order entered against you, from having any contact with your significant other whatsoever, unless a judge lifts it. It's actually the same in Pueblo County, as well as Arapahoe County and Douglas County, but specifically for El Paso County.”
“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.”
“at that hearing, you will be given a bond, and generally what we're seeing on DV cases is it's gonna range, on a misdemeanor case, it's gonna range anywhere from $1000 to $2000 all the way up to $5000 or $6000, depending on the severity of the charges against you.”
“if you have a charge for domestic violence on your record, you will be prohibited, for the rest of your life, from owning a firearm, even on a misdemeanor case. The reason this is important is because members of our military here, it completely negates your ability to do your job.”
“if it comes out that you have been trying to influence that other person in any way, or even that you've been contacting them, you could be charged with a new criminal offense. It's called a violation of protection order, and it's a class one misdemeanor, and then you just have this whole process starting over a second time.”
“During your advisement, they'll give you the chance to get what's called a keep the peace order, meaning that, for about 10 to 15 minutes, you can run back to your house, with police officers escorting you, get any belongings that you need and then leave, and that's the last time you're able to go home, because while this protection order's in place, you can't contact your significant other, you can't be at the home that they're at, anything like that.”
“a lot of the times what we're seeing is people are getting arrested for DV charges when they shouldn't have been at all.”
“The actual definition of what domestic violence is is someone exercising power and control over another person in an intimate relationship setting.”
“if you have a charge for domestic violence on your record, you will be prohibited, for the rest of your life, from owning a firearm, even on a misdemeanor case.”
“as soon as domestic violence is charged, a protection order, a mandatory protection order goes into place. It's governed by the statute 18-1-1001.”
“a lot of the times what we're seeing is people are getting arrested for DV charges when they shouldn't have been at all.”
“what I strongly advise is, between being released from jail and that pre-trial conference, get an attorney as fast as possible”
“these domestic violence charges are very serious, they're very complicated and convoluted, so your best option is to hire an attorney as quickly as possible.”