Legal Question in Criminal Law in Colorado

My 21 year old son honestly did not receive notice of a court date from either his attorney or the court, did not appear causing a warrant to be issued for non-appearance. At his pre-trial conference he met only with his attorney, no DA was present to set a court date. He was stopped because of a burned out license plate bulb, and was detained overnight in county jail and appeared in court the next morning. (He has never missed a court date!) His public defender and he had not had an opportunity to visit about the charges, and she strongly encouraged him to take the plea (which he had originally decided he was going to fight.) The charge he plead guilty to was wreckless driving. Today he got a letter from the DMV saying he had to prove his non-appearance was resolved, has to pay a reinstatement fee, etc. I keep thinking that he was denied due process which would have first given him notice to consult with his attorney, would have allowed him to appear on the court date, and prevented action by the DMV. He feels that he can not do anything about this because of the plea agreement. My question is how much of these proceedings would be affected by the apparent lack of due process? If he still held to the plea agreement, could the action to the DMV be reversed? Could it affect the plea?


Asked on 7/19/10, 8:57 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Daniel Fenaughty FENAUGHTY & ASSOCIATES, PC

If the charge he pleaded guilty to was a driving charge, I wonder how he could have ever gotten a public defender. Due process requires notice and a hearing. If entered any kind of plea in court, he had a hearing. If he was arrested, the act of arrest IS notice. Not the kind of notice that you want, but it is certainly notice. Also, DMV is not a party to criminal charges. The actions of DMV are separate from any criminal charges, and independent of a plea agreement on those criminal charges. If the plea agreement was accepted by the court, but is not being honored by the court, he could get relief. He should get counsel if that is the case.

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Answered on 7/20/10, 3:30 pm


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