How Plea Bargaining Works in Denver Criminal Court Cases
July 29, 2026
If you’re a marijuana user, you’re probably pretty happy to be living in Colorado. It’s easy for you to make a trip to your local dispensary and enjoy a relaxing night. But just because recreational marijuana is legal, that doesn’t mean everything regarding marijuana is legal in our state.
There are still numerous ways that marijuana users can face drug crime charges for possession, sale, distribution, and cultivation of marijuana. So let’s look at four of those ways.
1. It’s [...]
If you are a recreational user of marijuana, legalization probably made you stand up and cheer. Finally you could stop hiding and feeling guilty about using marijuana. If you wanted to light up on the street, you could just do it.
Wrong.
With the legalization of recreational marijuana use under Amendment 64, you may be under the impression that marijuana laws are now obsolete in Colorado. This, however, is not the case.
While the recreational use of marijuana is allowed, [...]
Few would argue that the penalties for drug crimes in the US are anything but incredibly harsh. Under current Colorado and federal laws, the punishment for possessing even small amounts of illegal drugs may include prison time, staggering fines, and a lifelong criminal record. It is not uncommon for non-violent drug crimes to be penalized with lifelong prison sentences.
Current penalties are so tough that many advocates are calling for drug law reform, arguing that current laws crowd prisons and [...]
With so few federal laws governing the use of drug tests in the workplace, it is left largely up to state legislatures to regulate employer drug testing matters. While other states have laws restricting how drug tests can be used in places of employment, Colorado has relatively few.
In our state, while there are certain laws that protect the privacy of tested employees, there are virtually no laws that protect workers from being required to take a drug test or [...]
Criminal justice in Colorado has undergone some drastic changes since the state legalized the recreational use and sale of marijuana in 2012.
According to a report from the Drug Policy Alliance, the number of marijuana charges for possession, distribution, and cultivation fell by 95 percent between 2010 and 2014. Possession charges dropped from 30,428 in 2010 to 1,922 in 2014, while distribution and cultivation charges have become nearly nonexistent.
However, though possession, distribution, and cultivation charges have dropped, there has [...]
Most criminal cases in Denver do not end with a jury verdict. They end with a decision: whether to accept a plea agreement, reject the offer, keep negotiating, or prepare for trial. That decision can shape your record, your freedom, your sentence, your probation terms, and your future long after the court date.
A plea bargain is not just “taking a deal.” It is a legal agreement that may involve reduced charges, dismissed counts, sentencing limits, probation terms, restitution, treatment [...]
A police crash report can make a serious collision look settled before the defense has examined the evidence. It may assign fault, estimate speed, describe the point of impact, and frame the driver’s conduct as reckless or impaired. In a Denver vehicular assault case, those early conclusions can influence charging decisions, plea negotiations, and how prosecutors present the case.
The problem is that a police report is not proof. Officers often prepare crash reports based on witness statements, final vehicle [...]
Assault charges in Colorado can range from a misdemeanor accusation after a physical confrontation to a serious felony carrying years in prison. The difference usually depends on the alleged intent, the level of injury, whether a weapon was involved, and whether the alleged victim falls into a protected category under Colorado law.
That distinction matters immediately. A misdemeanor assault case may still carry jail time, fines, a permanent criminal record, and collateral consequences for employment, housing, licensing, and your reputation. [...]