When Denver Police Use Confidential Informants: How the Defense Challenges Reliability
September 12, 2026
The holidays can be tempting for many reasons. Maybe you’re tempted to eat too many mincemeat pies or have yet another slice of your grandpa’s famous fruit cake. Maybe you’re overindulging in beverages at your holiday office party. Or perhaps you end up in a crowded store with merchandise everywhere and think how easy it’d be to slip something into your pocket and walk out with it.
Temptations are all around, especially during the holiday season. During this season, there [...]
There are all kinds of theft crimes. Shoplifting. Package theft. Identity theft. Stealing motor vehicles.
Some kinds of theft many people don’t really even think of as a crime – like using your friend’s Netflix account. What may surprise you more, though, is that the more common theft crimes don’t involve people walking into stores to take items they didn’t pay for. Instead, it’s employees who steal from their employers.
It can be tempting to take something from the workplace [...]
Shoplifting may seem like an offense that is no big deal but get caught, and you can still face a theft charge that could land on your criminal record.
Furthermore, if during the commission of that crime something goes wrong, then depending on your reaction, you might just face additional charges – as two Arvada suspects will soon learn.
Two men were suspected of shoplifting from a King Soopers in Arvada. When a loss prevention officer approached them, they sprayed [...]
Shoplifting is a crime that has been occurring since people started selling things. There are many examples of how shoplifting can occur, including taking goods from a retail store, walking out of a restaurant, or using a service without paying for it.
Unfortunately, due to increased loss prevention tactics within Colorado to preserve profit, it can be very easy to be mistaken or falsely accused as a shoplifter. Nobody likes to be accused of doing something that they didn’t do, [...]
Many people take the act of shoplifting lightly – it’s considered by many to be a frivolous and victimless crime. However, any and all shoplifting charges should be taken seriously, especially in states like ours, where no legal distinction is made between shoplifting and other forms of theft.
If you’re facing Colorado shoplifting charges, it’s very important to understand how shoplifting laws work in Colorado. Therefore, we’ve put together a guide covering the basics of Colorado shoplifting, which should answer [...]
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 [...]