When Denver Police Use Confidential Informants: How the Defense Challenges Reliability
September 12, 2026
Right now, it’s hard to miss that it’s election season. Political signs are everywhere and in such a highly polarized political climate, the urge to do something to your neighbor’s political sign can feel overwhelming.
Take a deep breath!
While it’s not against the law to disagree with someone’s political views, it is against the law to tamper with someone else’s property. So if you mess with your Colorado neighbor’s political signs there could be legal ramifications.
In fact, getting [...]
The holidays are a time full of good tidings, joy, and laughter. Sometimes, these feelings of merriment come as a result of a good old-fashioned holiday prank. Unfortunately, these pranks can result in real trouble if someone believes you’ve taken your practical joke a bit too far.
Here in Colorado, it’s called criminal mischief, and knowing what that means could make the difference between spending the holidays feeling jolly…or in jail.
So how does Colorado law enforcement define criminal mischief?[...]
See if this sounds familiar: “If cops don’t have to worry about arresting people for marijuana, they can pay attention to crimes that actually matter.”
Most of us have heard numerous variations of this argument over the years, but until 2012, it was just theoretical. Then Colorado and Washington legalized recreational marijuana, and researchers and statisticians started chomping at the bit.
Well, a few weeks ago a study was published in Police Quarterly that seems to possibly validate those types [...]
The term “property crimes” may refer to a broad range of offenses relating to theft or destruction of property, from low-level misdemeanors to more serious felonies.
Under Colorado law, property crimes are penalized harshly, and consequences may become more serious when they involve harm or threat to other people. We’ve included a guide to seven of the most common types of property crimes below.
Arson. You can be charged with arson for intentionally starting a fire or using explosives to [...]
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 [...]
Colorado COCCA charges are racketeering charges used when prosecutors claim a person participated in an enterprise through a pattern of criminal activity. These cases often grow out of drug, theft, burglary, fraud, identity theft, or financial investigations that are later reframed as organized conduct.
A COCCA count is not automatic just because several people were charged together or because prosecutors believe more than one crime occurred. The state must prove specific structural elements, including an enterprise and a pattern of [...]