Legal Question in Criminal Law in Colorado
prosecutorial misconduct
can i file prosecutorial misconduct charges before sentencing or must i wait till after and can this be done without an attroney if so is it handled at maybe the county clerks office. thank you
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: prosecutorial misconduct
you should raise these issues before sentencing.
Re: prosecutorial misconduct
Many defendants mistakenly accuse the prosecutor of misconduct because they don't understand what is proper and what isn't. Of course, prosecutors do sometimes cross the line and I once got a conviction overturned on appeal by showing that misconduct tainted the verdict. Such misconduct is uncommon, but it does happen.
Hopefully you had an attorney and didn't try to defend yourself. You should discuss this with your lawyer and see whether she agrees that the prosecutor acted improperly. If she thinks the prosecutor obeyed the rules and then you tell the judge that he didn't, the judge will likely believe you are blaming someone else for your conviction instead of taking responsibility for your own actions. Convicted defendants who don't accept such responsibility often receive much harsher sentences than those who do.
As I said, you should have a serious discussion about this issue with your attorney before sentencing.
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