Legal Question in Criminal Law in Colorado

My friends mother is mentally ill and has a history of verbal, mental, and physical abuse that includes an arrest some years ago. While visiting him (and not on her meds) she became angry and threw a wine glass at his wife. He in turn stepped between them and asked her to leave but when she continued to advance he pushed her away. She fell and hit her head on the counter. After she left she went to the hospital and claimed he hit her. This is untrue and he has his wife as a witness plus there were no signs of assault on his hands. The public defender claims he has no case and is likely to serve 3-5 if his mother will not drop the case. This seems like a case of self defense to me and even if his reaction may have been stronger than necessary with her history of being abusive and considering he had his children in the home it seems reasonable that he was concerned and may have over reacted. They have very little money and it will be difficult to hire and attorney. Should he request another public defender or is it possible for me (a friend / not related) to speak to the public defender about the details of the case?


Asked on 3/13/16, 8:22 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Stephen Harkess Colorado Legal Solutions

It won't do him any good to ask for another public defender. Disagreeing with the attorney's analysis of the case is not a reason to replace the attorney and there is no reason to believe that anyone else in the public defender's office will reach a different conclusion. He will need to work with the free attorney assigned to him or retain another attorney of his choice. Perhaps if he has a friend who feels strongly about the case that friend can help him with the expense.

Regardless of this analysis, his public defender WILL take the case to trial if that is what he wants to do. Your friend needs to consider the advice of his attorney and then decide whether he wants to take the risk of going to trial rather than accepting a plea. Ultimately, it is up to a jury to decide whether it was justified self defense or not.

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Answered on 3/14/16, 8:07 am


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