In the majority of cases where you are arrested and detained by law enforcement in Colorado, you are going to have at least one criminal charge filed against you. Colorado has three levels of criminal charges: felonies, misdemeanors and petty offenses. Petty offenses are the most minor and carry up to 6 months in jail and a $500 fine. Misdemeanor offenses are at a medium level of seriousness. There are three classes of misdemeanor, with class 3 being the least severe and class 1 being the most severe. For a class three misdemeanor, you can face up to 6 months in jail while for a class 1 misdemeanor you may face as much as 18 months. Finally, there are six classes of felonies. A class 6 felony, the least serious, can result in 1 year of jail time at a minimum. For the most serious class 1 felonies, you face either life in prison or the death penalty. So, if you are accused of a crime in Colorado, how do you avoid criminal conviction so you aren't at risk of these penalties?
How to Avoid Criminal Conviction
If you are charged with a crime in Colorado, the only way to avoid criminal conviction is to prove your innocence and win a trial in front of a judge or jury. While you can arrange a plea bargain and plead guilty for a lesser sentence in many cases, when you plead guilty, you do get a criminal conviction.
To avoid conviction, you need to convince a Colorado judge or jury that there is reasonable doubt in the prosecutors case. You can do this by:
- Providing a good alibi
- Presenting an alternative theory of the case
- Using an affirmative defense, such as claiming you committed the criminal act in self defense.
Essentially, you can use any means possible in a trial to prove to the jury that the prosecutor's case is not strong enough for conviction.
Get Help
Any time you are arrested, whether guilty or innocent of the crime you are being charged with, you should seriously consider consulting a criminal defense attorney or retaining the services of an experienced defense lawyer to represent you in a court of law. An attorney who specializes in criminal defense knows the law astutely and can use it to either prove your innocence or in the worst case scenario have your sentence reduced for a crime you are found guilty of.
