Colorado Criminal Defense Attorneys

11/29/2021

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Jeffrey Gard and Austin Hiatt are experienced criminal defense lawyers in the state of Colorado, based in Boulder.

08/05/2021

For the past six months in Denver, mental health professionals, not police officers, have been responding to certain nonviolent 911 calls. A new program in Denver, known as the Support Team Assisted Response Program, or STAR, directs a two-person team consisting of a paramedic and a mental health clinician in a van to respond to nonviolent 911 calls instead of traditional uniformed police officers. STAR currently operates from 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. on weekdays, and in just that limited operating window, STAR has been able to respond to 748 calls. In the nearly 750 calls that STAR responded to, not a single person was arrested, and police assistance was not needed a single time.

Even on the currently limited hours that STAR is operating on, it is projected that STAR could successfully divert 3% of 911 calls away from the police, a result that has both criminal justice reform advocates and law enforcement officers excited. Chief Paul Pazen of the Denver Police Department has voiced his support for expanding the STAR program to be available at all hours and suggested an additional 3 million in funding be provided for the expansion of STAR. In 2021, STAR’s budget will total 1.4 million dollars which will be used to acquire four new vans and six new two-person teams to add to STAR’s response services.

STAR has been incredibly effective, particularly in addressing homelessness and mental health needs previously only dealt with through the criminal justice system. Of the people STAR has interacted with, 68% have been homeless, and 61% struggle with some sort of mental health condition, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. These early results are promising, as one of the major critiques of the current American justice system by both police and reform advocates is that the police have been used as a catch all to deal not just with crime, but with America’s homelessness and mental health issues as well, which in the past has resulted in tragic and at times fatal results. Expanding STAR will help to ease the pressure on the police department and reduce the number of potentially highly confrontational interactions between someone experiencing a mental health episode and a police officer who has not been properly trained to respond to such a crisis.

02/14/2021

Again, I am having to take a stand about court closure due to COVID. Beginning in August, I was able to convince the courts to hold jury trials and tried 3 of the first 4 cases after the courts reconvened. We worked together to create a safe(r) environment to conduct jury trials and juries were both willing and able to come to court and decide cases. There were no issues and no one was diagnosed with COVID following those trials. Meanwhile, many people languish in jail awaiting trial where COVID is a serious problem. On January 19, the courts closed again. This made no sense because the state already moved from "red" to "orange" and COVID numbers were dropping. The judicial departments are considered "1b" and able to get vaccines now. I have objected to continuing two of my cases and these cases will join the case I already have on appeal for violation of my client's right to a speedy trial. Mitchell Byars and the Daily Camera was kind enough to reach out and report on this matter.

As Colorado jury trials continue to be delayed amid health concerns, attorneys are worried that a flood of appeals by defendants who felt they were not given timely trials could be coming in from a…

01/27/2021

Humbling praise from an attorney who just attended a legal seminar I gave.

01/06/2021

Yesterday I was in a motions hearing on a DUI case. My client requested a breath test, but the cop denied the request and determined my client "refused" testing. At the hearing, the cop testified that the DA's office instructed law enforcement not to offer breath tests due to COVID. This makes no sense because a cop is in constant, close contact with a defendant anyway. What made my chili run hot is the DA making public health decisions and instructing purportedly independent law enforcement agencies how to do their jobs. The Judge could have cared less. There will be an appeal.... Stay tuned.

12/15/2020

We just refreshed our website. Check it out: www.gardlawfirm.com

Providing excellent legal work at reasonable rates, the team at Jeff Gard Law Firm in Boulder, CO is ready to help you find solutions.

11/21/2019

A new video about the firm we just completed.

Welcome to Gard Law Firm. We enjoy a reputation for providing excellent legal work at reasonable rates and are fortunate to claim that all of our work comes ...