Practice Area
A sex offense accusation can bring prison, lifetime supervision, and registration. We defend these cases carefully and confidentially, from the first call.
Both of our founding partners started their careers as prosecutors. Before co-founding Smith & Weidinger, Bradley Smith served as a Deputy District Attorney in Mesa County and as a Denver Assistant City Attorney. We know how these investigations are built, and we know that many cases are made in the early steps: the recorded phone call, the invitation to come in and “give your side.”
We defend sex offense charges from our offices in Denver (1040 S. Gaylord St.) and Colorado Springs (415 N. Tejon St.), and in courts across Colorado. In Pueblo County, after a contested trial that ran more than a week, the jury could not reach a verdict on a felony sexual assault charge, and our client remained free. We’ve had a felony sexual assault charge dismissed and sealed in Arapahoe County, a sex offense reduced to a petty offense in Adams County, and a client’s deregistration petition granted in Denver. You’ll work directly with the lawyer handling your case, not a call center.
The charge decides the prison range, whether lifetime supervision applies, and whether you’ll have to register.
Most felony sex offenses in Colorado fall under the Lifetime Supervision Act. Instead of a fixed prison term, the court sets a minimum, and the maximum is the rest of your life. Release and discharge depend on progress in treatment and a finding about your risk. Probation for these offenses is indeterminate too: at least 10 years for a class 4 felony and at least 20 for a class 3 or class 2.
Anyone convicted of a sex offense who is being considered for probation must first complete a sex-offense-specific evaluation. Treatment with a provider approved by the state’s Sex Offender Management Board is then part of the sentence. Because the charge determines whether any of this applies, the charge a case is resolved on can matter more than the sentence itself.
A conviction for most sex offenses requires registering with local law enforcement, and for registration purposes a deferred judgment counts as a conviction. Failing to register is its own crime: a class 6 felony if the underlying offense was a felony (class 5 for a repeat), and a class 1 misdemeanor otherwise.
Many registrants can later petition to deregister: 20 years after the sentence ends for a class 1–3 felony, 10 years for a class 4–6 felony or misdemeanor unlawful sexual contact, and 5 years for other misdemeanors, with no new sex-offense conviction. Someone who completes a deferred judgment can petition once the case is dismissed. Some people can never petition, including adults convicted of sexual assault or sexual assault on a child and anyone designated a sexually violent predator. We also handle deregistration for people with out-of-state convictions who now live in Colorado.
Colorado criminal defense
If a detective has called or asked you to come in, get a confidential consultation with a Colorado defense attorney first. Not a screener.
Your information stays private.
Not a call center.
We know both sides.
Your criminal defense attorney
Bradley E. Smith
Founding Partner
Criminal Defense Attorney
Former Deputy District Attorney in Mesa County and Denver Assistant City Attorney. More than six years as a U.S. Navy officer overseas, in Japan, East Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law and a bachelor’s degree from CU Boulder. Licensed in Colorado state and federal courts.
That prosecutorial background matters in a specific way. Sex offense cases often come down to one person’s account against another’s, sometimes reported months or years later. Prosecutors know how fragile that can be. A defense lawyer who understands how they evaluate a case knows where to press: gaps in the timeline, statements that changed, evidence nobody collected.
We also plan for sentencing and registration from day one, because the charge decides both.
Every sex offense case has pieces that can be tested:
When the report was made, who was told first, and what was said along the way.
Forensic interviews of children have to follow accepted protocols, and suggestive questioning can shape an account. Recorded "pretext" calls are often misread.
Phones, messages, and social media can confirm or contradict an account. In internet luring cases, the sting chats deserve a line-by-line read.
Colorado's sexual assault law turns on whether you knew the other person did not consent. What each person said and did matters.
Whether a resolution requires registration or lifetime supervision can matter as much as the sentence.
We look at all of it. Then we decide, with you, whether to file motions, negotiate, or try the case.
The order below is the shape of most Colorado criminal cases. Where your case sits in it determines what can still be changed.
You will be advised of the charges, usually within 48 hours. You do not have to explain yourself to anyone, and you should not. The single most common way a defensible case becomes a difficult one is a statement given before a lawyer was involved.
The court sets bond considering the charge, your record, your ties to the community, and any perceived risk. Bond can be argued, and bond can be reduced after it’s set. A lawyer at that hearing is the difference between a number and an argument.
In any domestic violence case, a mandatory protection order issues immediately. It can bar you from your own home and from contact with your family. It can be modified — but only through the court, never by agreement with the other party.
We obtain everything the state has: reports, body camera footage, dispatch audio, lab results, officer histories. We also build what the state didn’t bother to — witnesses they never interviewed, video they never pulled.
Suppression of an unlawful stop, an unlawful search, or an involuntary statement can end a case outright. Several of our dismissals came at or immediately after a motions hearing.
Most cases resolve. Some should not. We prepare every case as though it will be tried, because that preparation is what produces the better offer — and because when a case should go to a jury, we are ready.
Recent outcomes in sex offense cases.
After a contested trial of more than a week, the jury could not reach a verdict. Our client remained free.
Felony sexual assault and a related felony charge dismissed at the pretrial readiness conference. Case sealed.
Reduced to a petty offense with a fine after a motions hearing.
Our client's petition to be removed from the sex offender registry was granted.
Results depend on the specific facts and legal circumstances of each case. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome.
Unedited, from our Google profile.
Reviews are published on Google by the people who wrote them. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
People facing these accusations usually ask the same questions first. The answers below are general. The charge, the evidence, and your history decide how they apply to you.
Not without a lawyer. Detectives often call, or invite you in to “give your side,” and anything you say can be used as evidence. You have the right to decline, and asking for a lawyer isn’t an admission of anything.
A conviction for most sex offenses requires registration, and in Colorado a deferred judgment counts as a conviction for that purpose. Whether a proposed plea requires registration is one of the first things we look at.
Often, yes. After a waiting period of 5, 10, or 20 years depending on the offense, and with no new sex-offense conviction, you can petition the court. A completed deferred judgment can be petitioned sooner. Some convictions carry lifetime registration with no petition.
For felony sexual assault against an adult, prosecutors generally have 20 years to file charges. For many felony sex offenses against children, there’s no deadline at all.
For most felony sex offenses, the court sets a minimum term, and the maximum is life. Release depends on progress in treatment and a finding that you can safely be supervised in the community.
A conviction generally can’t be. Colorado’s sealing law excludes offenses involving unlawful sexual behavior. A case that was dismissed, or ended in acquittal, can be sealed. That’s what happened in our 2021 Arapahoe County case.
