Colorado Criminal Lawyer Blog
By H. Michael Steinberg, A Colorado Criminal Defense Lawyer.
H. Michael Steinberg has 42+ years of experience practicing Colorado criminal law. Mr. Steinberg strives to stay current with the ever changing aspects of criminal law issues and updates resulting in his extensive knowledge of successful criminal defense as well as appellate work. He is also an active member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar Association, the Colorado Trial Lawyer's Association, and the Colorado and Arapahoe Bar Associations.
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Under Colorado Law Can A Suspect’s Silence Be Used Against Them?
Introduction
Silence is protected only when it’s properly invoked as a Fifth Amendment right; pre-arrest, pre-Miranda silence can, in some circumstances, be used as evidence, while post-arrest, post-Miranda silence generally cannot.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings in Berghuis v. Thompkins and Salinas v. Texas established that silence does not automatically trigger Fifth Amendment protection — a suspect must affirmatively and clearly invoke the right to remain silent for it to count.
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Colorado Law: What If You Already Talked to the Police and You Made a Mistake?
By H. Michael Steinberg, A Colorado Criminal Defense Lawyer – Practicing Colorado Criminal Law in the courts of Colorado for over 40 years.
Introduction
Most legal advice about police encounters you may receive from lawyers arrives too late. You’ve answered the phone or already sat down in the interview room and answered questions you shouldn’t have, maybe left out a critical detail or exaggerated another under pressure — and now you’re wondering whether the damage is permanent.
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Colorado Rule 41.1- When The Police Can Force Samples From Your Body
By H. Michael Steinberg, A Colorado Criminal Defense Lawyer – Practicing Colorado Criminal Law in the courts of Colorado for over 40 years.
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Under Crim. P. 41.1(c), a court may issue an order for police officers to collect non-testimonial identification evidence from a suspect if the officers have “probable cause to believe that an offense has been committed; . . . reasonable grounds, not amounting to probable cause to arrest, to suspect that the person named . . . in the affidavit committed the offense;” and believe the testimonial identification evidence will materially aid “in determining whether the person named in the affidavit committed the offense.”
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Colorado Law: Can The Police Lie To You During An Investigation?
By H. Michael Steinberg, A Colorado Criminal Defense Lawyer – Practicing Colorado Criminal Law in the courts of Colorado for over 40 years.
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Can Police Search Your iCloud or Google Account Under Colorado Law?
By H. Michael Steinberg, A Colorado Criminal Defense Lawyer – Practicing Colorado Criminal Law in the courts of Colorado for over 40 years.
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Your iCloud and Google accounts hold more private information about you than almost anything police could find in your home — text messages, location history, search queries, photos, backed-up conversations, even deleted files.
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Colorado: Harboring a Runaway Minor C.R.S. § 18-6-601 The Law
By H. Michael Steinberg, A Colorado Criminal Defense Lawyer
Introduction
You might be reading this with a knot in your stomach.
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Burglary Crimes in Colorado: Class, Penalty, and Defenses To Those Crimes
By H. Michael Steinberg
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Most people picture burglary as a masked intruder smashing a window at night. Colorado law is far broader. You can be charged with burglary without breaking anything, without taking anything, and sometimes without ever intending to hurt anyone.
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Why Can’t I Go Right Home After a Colorado Domestic Violence Arrest?
By H. Michael Steinberg
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The short answer clients want first, before anything else: not right away, and often not for a long time — even after you’re released from jail. Colorado treats a domestic violence arrest differently from almost any other arrest in the state, and the rules that keep you out of your own home can take effect before you’ve even spoken to a lawyer.