Expert Attorneys in Golden, Jefferson County, or Colorado, Ready to Represent You
If you have been accused of criminal mischief, you have the right to fight the charges. An experienced attorney can help. At Pearson & Paris, P.C., we have more than 50 years of combined legal experience that we will use in your defense. Perhaps more importantly, our top criminal defense attorney is a former senior prosecutor who knows how district attorneys handle these cases. That knowledge allows us to create effective strategies ranging from negotiation to courtroom battles.
Call us at 303-872-4719 in the greater Denver area or toll free at 888-725-2609 across Colorado for a free initial consultation. You can also contact us online.
Whether in the Denver area, or anywhere in Colorado, criminal mischief generally occurs where a person knowingly damages the real or personal property of one or more other person, including property owned jointly with another person.
Possible consequences for criminal mischief
Criminal mischief may be charged as either a felony or a misdemeanor depending on the value of the damage to property. Generally speaking, where the property damage amounts to less than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), it will be charged as a misdemeanor. Where the property damage is over one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), it will be charged as a felony.
Related charges are defacing public or private property, criminal tampering, and littering, and also involve interfering with property rights. These related offenses are all misdemeanors and are punishable by a probationary sentence or a jail sentence of not more than eighteen months.
Possible Defenses for criminal mischief
Whether a person is charged with criminal mischief, defacing property, or other related property crimes, the general approach to defending criminal mischief and related crimes remains the same. First, the person may well reasonably believe that a property owner has consented in the destruction or defacement of his property. This could be especially so, where the property is already in a damaged condition, or where a wall is already tagged with graffiti. Second, in criminal mischief cases, the issue of value must always be closely examined. The value of damage to an item is not what it cost to purchase, or what the retail value is of a similar item. The only important value is the amount of the damage done in terms of dollars; stated differently, the cost of repair. In some cases, the issue of the cost of repair may reduce a felony case to a misdemeanor.
The remaining defenses that may be applied in a criminal mischief case apply with equal force to those that may apply in any other criminal case. This includes an analysis of any violation of constitutional rights, such as the right to remain silent, the right to counsel, the right to have any searches and seizures bases on probable cause, a proper warrant, and the right to due process in the proper preservation of evidence that may be used against you. There are many other defenses that are available that rely on scrutinizing and exposing weaknesses in the prosecutor's case, such as: biased or incompetent witnesses, flawed crime scene investigation, flawed administration and procedures in collecting breath, blood, or urine for forensic testing, incompetent computer evidence, flawed photo line-ups, and inaccurate crime scene / accident reconstructions.
It is important that you hire a skilled and experienced criminal mischief lawyer to defend you in a criminal mischief case in Golden, Jefferson County, or across Colorado.
Call us at 303-872-4719 in the greater Denver area or toll free across Colorado at 888-725-2609 for a free initial consultation. You can also contact us online.