Understanding Colorado’s Deferred Judgment and Sentence Options for First Offenders
May 1, 2026
Burglary is typically depicted as someone sneaking in to someone’s house late at night through a window and tiptoeing around to commit theft. However, while this certainly is a form of burglary, it is not the only way that you can receive a burglary charge in our state.
In fact, Colorado’s legal definition of burglary includes many other types of crimes and types of actions. Case-in-point: burglary doesn’t have to involve someone’s home – or even a building.
All told, [...]
Property crimes are taken very seriously in Colorado, as they often have devastating consequences for the victim(s) and/or property owner.
Fortunately, Denver has recently enjoyed a decrease in property crimes. As of this writing, the city has averaged 1917 property crimes per month in 2018, a substantial decrease from last year’s average of 2131 property crimes per month.
Local law enforcement often pays special attention to crimes that are widespread or on the rise, which might lead you to believe [...]
Here’s a lesson you hopefully don’t need us to teach you: do not drive a stolen car to court after being accused of car theft.
Sounds obvious, right? Unfortunately, that’s exactly what a Connecticut man did earlier this month.
Jonathan Rivera, 25, was scheduled to appear in court on charges of first-degree larceny and tampering with a vehicle. He showed up for his court appearance in a 2014 Subaru Legacy.
When he arrived, parking authority agents scanned the license plates [...]
Denver has recently seen a substantial increase in both auto thefts and methamphetamine possession – a 13% increase in stolen vehicles, and a 30% increase in meth possession arrests.
Drug addicts often steal or break into vehicles in order to trade the contraband for drugs. Local law enforcement is aware of this connection, and is attempting to crack down on both types of offenses.
However, the assumption that someone is committing auto theft to pay for drugs is just that [...]
Most people see the winter holiday season as a time of celebration. Thankfulness. Togetherness. Joy and cheer. For the Denver police and others in local law enforcement, though, it is also a time that brings a huge uptick in the number of theft cases they have to handle.
Some of these cases are truly unusual, like the young adults that recently got caught on camera stealing Christmas decorations. Or the man who allegedly stole over $7,000 worth of Christmas trees [...]
A deferred judgment and sentence allows a first-time offender in Colorado to plead guilty, complete a period of court supervision, and then have the guilty plea withdrawn and the charge dismissed permanently. For someone facing their first criminal charge, this is often the best available outcome.
At the Law Office of Jacob Martinez, our Denver criminal defense team has negotiated deferred judgment agreements in Colorado courts since 2014.
How a Deferred Judgment and Sentence Works in ColoradoThe defendant enters [...]
Eyewitness testimony is undeniably a powerful form of evidence in criminal cases. However, there have been studies showing it is also one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions in Denver and across the United States. This suggests that human memory is not perfect and that some situations can lead to errors in identification.
In Denver, cases involving eyewitness misidentification span a wide range of crimes. You must defend against wrongful convictions, which requires a detailed review of the circumstances [...]
Violating a Colorado protection order can trigger a new criminal charge and contempt proceedings in the same court, and any new sentence must be served back-to-back with the sentence you were already facing, not at the same time. That means a single phone call, text message, or chance encounter can double your exposure while you are still on bond or probation. Denver criminal defense attorneys at the Law Office of Jacob Martinez have defended clients against these charges across Colorado [...]