Colorado Sexual Assault Statute of Limitations: How Timing Affects Prosecution
October 19, 2026
It’s unlikely that anyone needs to tell a person that driving under the influence is a big mistake in Colorado. The Centennial State has some of the stiffest DUI penalties in the nation. Even if you manage to avoid conviction for a DUI, there’s still the matter of a criminal record.
The law in Colorado allows you to expunge certain crimes and arrests from your criminal record. Is a DUI one of those crimes? In some circumstances, it is, but [...]
Facing a criminal charge can be a stressful experience. Chances are, you’re living in the moment, and your are concerned about how it’s affecting your life in the here and now – not how it can impact your life in the future.
The truth of the matter is that, in Colorado and all across the United States, a criminal record can have huge consequences for your life. Even if you are successful in having criminal charges against you dropped, a [...]
For anyone with a criminal record, having a background check done to get a new job or secure a new apartment can be quite stressful. Background checks will show any criminal convictions and even arrests that have taken place, which can be a barrier for some people when it comes to finding a new job or getting a new place to live.
Thankfully, for many people, there is a legal remedy to this problem: record sealing or expungement. There are [...]
As you switch out your calendar and ring in the New Year, it’s time to think about your resolutions. How are you going to make a positive change in 2020? What will help you move forward in life?
We know the usual resolutions: go on a diet, quit smoking, hit the gym, etc., but if you’ve got a Colorado criminal record, there’s a more important matter at hand. Your history is probably already holding you back.
So have your criminal [...]
Whether you are convicted, charged, or even just arrested, you will get a criminal record. This criminal record will follow you wherever you go, making it difficult to get a job, rent an apartment, or do anything that requires a background check.
The good news is that some criminal records may be “sealed” or “expunged” in Colorado. Both of these processes essentially “hide” your record from anyone looking into your background. It also means that you are not required to [...]
There is no single statute of limitations that applies to every Colorado sexual assault or sex crime allegation. Depending on the exact charge, the alleged victim’s age, when the conduct allegedly occurred, whether DNA evidence identifies a suspect, when the offense was reported, and whether the accused spent time outside Colorado, prosecutors may have 20 years, a different statutory period, or no time limit at all.
Those distinctions matter most when an allegation surfaces years or even decades after the [...]
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, [...]