Colorado Springs Criminal Attorney Blog

From the too weird to be true files: I recently had a client whose DUI case was dismissed. Was it due to my great lawyering? Did I find the legal loophole to save his license and freedom? Alas, no. It was because the police arrested him after assuming he was drunk and his blood test showed he wasn't. So much for those fancy roadside tests and the police officer's impressive DUI detection training and education. He saw someone he assumed was drunk, recorded only those observations that supported his assumption, arrested the client on CHRISTMAS EVE, and made him submit to a blood test--which was well under the legal limit. Of course, the blood wasn't tested until mid-January and the client couldn't bond out of jail until late Christmas day, but that's another story. Now why do I bring this up under a post entitled "sealing" criminal records, you ask? Because this was the SECOND TIME this same client was arrested for DUI and came back under the limit.

I'm not saying this happened, but I would bet (maybe not my house) that the arresting officer on the second case looked at my client's criminal history before he made the arrest, saw my client had been arrested for DUI before, and that bias was enough to induce him into making an erroneous assumption--even though the client was actually innocent of the first DUI charge as well. The criminal arrest history isn't "erased" because you are actually innocent, you must proactively petition a court to "seal" your record.

Colorado law allows you to seal your arrest record if you have been acquitted of a crime, your case has been dismissed, or you have been charged with certain drug offenses. Sealing an arrest record or a court case can have significant benefits. I have one client who was turned down for an apartment because he was once arrested for trespassing. Hmm, no real connection between that arrest and being a bad tenant, but the apartment won't rent to anyone arrested for a felony. He hired me, got his record sealed, and . . . the same apartment rented to him. Sealing can keep your arrest or court records from potential employers, schools, and financial institutions. If you have a previous case that has been dismissed, contact a Colorado Springs Criminal Defense Lawyerto see if you are eligible to seal your arrest record from public view.