It is common to arrest those accused of criminal activity immediately. Depending on the charges or the defendant, the accused may not have the option to post bail. So even though criminal trials may take years to get a conclusion, the defendant may remain in jail. In...
Criminal defense
Those charged in Colorado may have to forfeit property
The laws involving asset forfeiture have changed in recent years at both the state and federal level. Generally, in the past, law enforcement could permanently confiscate property without a conviction if they suspected that money came from illegal activities like...
What is a geofence warrant?
Law enforcement is getting increasingly sophisticated when it comes to technology. One recent breakthrough has been geofence warrants, which use the location history function on your phone's Google mapping app to place you in the vicinity of a crime. Unlike...
Aurora possibly the first in the state to ban no-knock warrants
Louisville police made national headlines earlier this year when officers serving a warrant mistakenly forced themselves into the home of Breonna Taylor and fatally shot her. The warrant was for a previous occupant who reportedly kept drugs in the apartment. This was...
New federal bill would ease pretrial detention
The American justice system is based on the fact that citizens are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. However, many find themselves locked-up long before the trial. This happens because the person charged cannot post bail or their bail was denied. Those...
Can police access phones?
The New Jersey Supreme Court recently passed down a ruling where police officers with a search warrant can gain access to a person’s phone to attain incriminating evidence. However, critics disagree, claiming that it is an infringement of a person’s Fifth Amendment...
Low-level crimes disproportionately impact minorities
The death of George Floyd while in police custody for trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill is just one of countless examples of how misdemeanors, traffic violations and low-level crimes unduly impact minorities. This has led one law school professor in California to...
How should protesters prepare for a possible arrest?
Civil unrest ignited across the country and around the globe when a white Minneapolis police officer kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. The injuries caused by the officer led to Floyd’s death soon after he was taken away in an ambulance....