Witness Intimidation Defense Attorneys in Colorado
Intimidating a Witness in Colorado – 18-8-704
A classic trope from any gangster or western movie is the bad guys showing up the night before a big trial and threatening a witness or a member of their family, in order to get the witness not to testify — and in the movies, the bad guys are often successful. However, in real life and in Colorado, the crime of Intimidating a Witness is a serious felony offense.
The statute, or law, prohibits people from using threats, harassing or “any act of harm or injury” against anyone who is in one of the following groups:
A witness to a criminal proceeding;
A witness to a civil proceeding;
A victim of a crime, a person he or she believes has been or is to be called or who would have been called to testify as a witness in any criminal or civil proceeding;
A member of a witness’ family;
A member of a victim’s family;
A person in close relationship to the witness or victim;
A person residing in the same household with the witness or victim; or
Any other person who has reported a crime or who may be called to testify as a witness to or victim of any crime.
But in order to be convicted of this offense, the Prosecutor would need to show that you not only, threatened, harassed, or used an “act or harm or injury” against one of these groups, but it would also need to be shown that you did this in an attempt to do one of the following:
Influence the witness or victim to testify falsely or unlawfully withhold any testimony;
Induce the witness or victim to avoid legal process summoning him to testify;
Induce the witness or victim to absent himself or herself from an official proceeding; or
Inflict such harm or injury prior to such testimony or expected testimony.
Under the 1977 Colorado case, People v. Proctor, 194 Colo. 172 (1977), all that is necessary for this crime is to presently attempt, by threat of harm or injury, to influence someone to withhold testimony at a future time. Other Colorado cases also explain or flush out, the different elements that must be proven under this charge. An understanding of this case law is essential to defending a charge for intimidation.
As a class 4 felony, a conviction for this offense is punishable by up to 6 years and/or $500,000 in fines.
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first-time offender in Colorado to plead guilty, complete a period of court supervision, and then have the guilty plea withdrawn and the charge dismissed permanently.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 Colorado
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 [...]
