Although only your Denver criminal defense lawyer can say for sure, if you have committed a serious crime there is a good chance you will be sentenced under a mandatory minimum regime in Colorado. What does this mean? In Colorado, voters were sick of judges having discretion in sentencing serious crimes. They felt that judges were giving sentences that were too lenient to sexual and violent offenders. To remedy this, voters implemented a mandatory minimum regime, stripping judges of discretion. No longer does your Denver criminal defense lawyer argue a case at sentencing--the sentence is basically determined by the crime committed with no wiggle room.
This is particular difficult in the case of sex offenses. Sex offenses are generally Class 4 felonies, meaning they carry indeterminate sentencing. That sounds all squishy, but what it really means is a life sentence where the parole board decides when the offender gets out of prison. And the parole board isn't nearly as friendly as a judge. Only a small percentage of applications for parole on indeterminate sentences are approved, since the parole board seems skeptical that sex offenders can be rehabilitated at all. Basically, the rules call for a life sentence for anybody who commits a sex offense without admitting it. So if you end up with an indeterminate sentence, your Denver criminal defense attorney is going to have a tough time every getting you out of prison.
What to do? Basically, under mandatory minimums the only way to avoid a is either to plead to a non-mandatory minimum charge or win at trial. Your Denver criminal defense lawyer can attempt to negotiate a plea to a charge that will not result in a mandatory minimum sentence. If not a defense attorney can plan a trial strategy with the best chance of getting a not-guilty verdict and avoiding serious jail time.
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