How Colorado Extradition Works for Out-of-State Criminal Charges
September 22, 2026
The year 2020 has been a long one already. Violence has all but dominated the news cycle in one way or another. It’s not just the news media covering negativity, though. According to Denver’s most recent crime report, assault is up 23 percent in 2020.
Moreover, assault isn’t the only violent crime on the rise, either. Colorado’s rate of aggravated assault is the highest it’s been since 2011. Acts of assault are not only becoming more common, these acts are [...]
A Morgan County man is currently in police custody facing first-degree assault charges for allegedly assaulting a 76-year-old man.
The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office responded to a medical emergency on February 14, but at the scene, officers quickly realized that this victim’s medical emergency wasn’t related to an accident or fall, but rather, he was an assault victim.
If convicted, the defendant could serve 24 years in prison. That’s a far cry from simple assault, which usually is not initially [...]
Every day, there are many instances of assaults taking place across our state. Some of these assaults are more serious than others, and the law has been formulated with this in mind. Commit a more serious assault and you will be subject to more severe penalties.
When an assault is considered “more serious,” it is commonly referred to as an “aggravated” assault. What exactly makes an assault “aggravated,” though? How is it different from a regular assault?
Colorado Aggravated Assault[...]We can all admit that tensions in our country are high right now. No matter who you voted for or what you look like, it’s hard to turn a blind eye to the rising levels of violence through both large-scale and short-scale incidents.
Unfortunately, Colorado has the numbers to prove that hate crimes and other forms of violence are truly more prevalent than in the past.
Data from Colorado law enforcement shows that reports of hate crimes doubled from 2017 [...]
The various “Stand Your Ground” statutes are some of the most controversial laws that exist in the United States. Different states call the different things, but they’re all fairly similar to the law made most famous during the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida.
Essentially, they allow someone to “stand their ground” and use physical force on a person if they believe that the person is going to cause them physical harm. Supporters of “Stand Your Ground” laws argue that they [...]
Extradition is about where a criminal case will be handled—not whether the person is guilty. If someone is arrested in Colorado on another state’s warrant, the immediate questions are usually whether to waive extradition, whether bail is available, how long the process may take, and what can actually be challenged before the person is returned.
The same issue can run in the other direction. A person may be arrested in another state because Colorado issued the warrant. In that situation, [...]
A confidential informant almost never speaks to the judge who signs the warrant. Instead, the judge reads a detective’s sworn summary of what an unnamed person allegedly said. That gap can become one of the most important issues in a Denver drug, weapons, theft, or other criminal case.
The defense does not cross-examine the informant when the warrant is issued. At that stage, the focus is on the affidavit itself: what the informant allegedly knew, how police verified the information, [...]
Colorado fentanyl possession charges can become serious felonies at relatively low weight thresholds. The law focuses on the weight of the material, compound, mixture, or preparation containing fentanyl rather than only the amount of pure fentanyl inside it. That means a small-looking quantity of powder or counterfeit pills can result in a much more serious charge once the substance is tested and weighed.
Weight is only part of the case. What the accused person knew, whether the state can prove [...]