Colorado Springs Criminal Law Blog

According to NBC news affiliate KUSA-TV, channel 9, police are looking for an individual that robbed a liquor store. Reportedly, the thief asked the clerk if he could make change of a $20 bill and then proceeded to rob the establishment once the cash register drawer was open. Surveillance footage from the scene of the crime shows the man to be Caucasian, wearing a long black coat, large dark sunglasses, and a white hat. Police investigating the case hope that the footage and description may spark someone’s memory, and lead to further information about the whereabouts of this man or his identity; possibly aiding the investigation process and leading to an arrest in the case.

While releasing surveillance footage and suspect descriptions to the general public is a useful tool that can assist police investigations, false accusations are certainly a concern for individuals that even remotely fit the description of the suspect shown in the surveillance footage. While your average citizen would be more than willing to assist in a police investigation if it meant an arrest would more than likely be made, such general public assistance is not always accurate. Public help can ultimately be little more than an attempt to assist law enforcement even though the information being relayed is nothing more than speculation.

Continue reading " Liquor Store Thief Keeps the Change " »

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Posted In: Criminal Charges , Theft Defense

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According to the Denver Business Journal, a Nigerian national has been deemed the ringleader in a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme. The 45-year-old was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the scheme, and will be deported back to Nigeria once his prison sentence is completed. The man was convicted on a total of four felony counts, and, along with nine others, was deemed responsible for, according to Attorney General John Suthers, “one of the most expansive and heinous mortgage fraud rings [ever] seen in Colorado.”

Charges involved in this case ranged from forgery to theft and computer crime. A total of 34 real estate deals were connected to these crimes with false invoices, the establishment of shell corporations, and a host of inaccurate information being exchanged with mortgage lenders (in order to acquire larger mortgages) all being utilized in the deception. These infractions, while not violent, are still criminal acts, and are often labeled as white-collar crimes. Typically, the theft or unlawful obtaining of information is deemed as a white-collar infraction, and such charges can be just as harsh as those associated with violent crimes. Particularly since white-collar crimes tend to be committed in tandem with one another, linking multiple charges together can result in harsher, compounded sentences.

Continue reading " White-Collar Mortgage Crime Ends With 10 Sentenced " »

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Posted In: White Collar Crime

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A recent article in the Aurora Sentinel explained that recent legislation will translate to significant budget cuts for Colorado law enforcement. However, the budget cuts will not necessarily directly affect local law enforcement. Instead, the cuts will focus on the Department of Corrections and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s DNA laboratory, both of which may indirectly affect local agencies and Colorado citizens. That is, with cuts to the Department of Corrections, educational programs for inmates will be eliminated. In addition, a new parole program will be put into effect that will allow individuals eligible for parole to acquire parole sooner and be alleviated of requirements that were previously expected of them. As for the CBI’s DNA lab, cuts will result in the removal of two lab tech positions, which could have a negative impact on law enforcement agencies that regularly rely on testing and results from the lab in regard to criminal investigations from local crime scenes.

Although this particular budget cut isn’t supposed to affect the number of officers on Colorado streets, it will affect the ways in which prisoners are released and will influence how those prisoners are incarcerated in the first place. If evidence from crime scenes is not properly handled, possibly out of the simple notion that the lab is understaffed and technicians overworked, then that evidence may implicate a person when no such implication actually exists. While DNA testing has recently been scrutinized for inaccuracy, cutting the number of technicians that were previously deemed necessary to examine such sensitive materials may create problems. For instance, this decrease leaves the door open for error that could result in false imprisonment and innocent victims being accused of wrongdoing that they didn’t actually commit.

Continue reading " Could Budget Cuts Botch Future Investigation? " »

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Posted In: Law & Information

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The Denver Daily News recently reported that a 35-year-old man was charged with burglary and criminal trespassing after attempting to flee from an east Denver home. Though witnesses did not see the man enter the home, residents of the home did see the man climbing out of a bedroom window before fleeing on foot. No property was reported to have been taken.

According to the report, the residents of the home returned to their house one evening to discover that lights were turned on inside the residence. The residents had not left the lights on when they had originally left the house, so they grew suspicious and called police. While waiting for police to arrive, the residents witnessed the man leaving the premises through the window. Police soon apprehended the man near the scene of the crime.

It was determined that the man had rifled through clothing drawers and piled underwear on a bed. The man now faces second-degree burglary and first-degree criminal trespass charges. Though more specific details of this case were not released, particularly the would-be burglar’s state of mind, it can be inferred that some sort of mental health issue may have played a role in his actions. It was not reported that the man took anything from the residence, so it would appear as though he simply ransacked the home and then decided to flee the scene. Numerous issues will undoubtedly be brought to light in his criminal defense case.

Continue reading " Alleged Burglar Ransacks Denver Home " »

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Posted In: Criminal Charges , Theft Defense

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