Practice Area
A conviction isn’t always the last word. Appeals, sentence reductions, probation violations, sealing, pardons, and gun rights each have their own rules, and some deadlines are counted in days.
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 what prosecutors look for when they respond to a request to reduce a sentence, seal a record, or revoke probation, and what a judge needs to see to grant one.
We handle post-conviction matters from our offices in Denver (1040 S. Gaylord St.) and Colorado Springs (415 N. Tejon St.), for clients across Colorado. In 2022, Governor Jared Polis granted our client a full pardon for a felony conviction from the 1990s. We’ve won a sex offender deregistration petition in Denver and resolved a probation violation in El Paso County without further sanction. You’ll work directly with the lawyer handling your case, not a call center.
The right tool depends on what went wrong and how much time has passed.
A missed appointment, a failed test, missed payments, or a new arrest can all lead to a complaint to revoke your probation. Since July 2023, Colorado generally requires a summons, not an arrest warrant, for a probation violation unless there’s a flight risk or a risk of serious harm. If you are held in custody, the hearing has to happen within 14 days.
There’s no jury at a revocation hearing. The prosecution has to prove a technical violation by a preponderance of the evidence, and a new crime beyond a reasonable doubt unless you’ve already been convicted of it. If the judge revokes probation, the court can impose any sentence that was available originally. That’s why these hearings deserve the same preparation as the original case, and why many violations are better resolved with modified terms or treatment.
Unless it says otherwise, a governor’s pardon waives the collateral consequences of a Colorado conviction, including the state firearm ban, and a pardoned conviction can then be sealed. According to the Colorado Department of Corrections, the governor’s office isn’t accepting new clemency applications until the next administration takes office in January 2027. That makes now a good time to prepare one. For federal convictions, the petition goes to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Colorado’s own gun ban now covers felonies on a statutory list and Victim Rights Act crimes rather than every felony. But federal law still bars anyone with a felony conviction, so a pardon remains the cleanest fix. Sealing does not restore gun rights. If a firearm purchase was denied, you can ask CBI to review the denial within 30 days, and a concealed carry denial can go to the sheriff for review or straight to district court. And many people required to register as sex offenders can petition to deregister after 5, 10, or 20 years.
Colorado criminal defense
Some post-conviction deadlines are only weeks long. Get a confidential consultation with a Colorado attorney. Not a screener.
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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 here, too. Post-conviction work means asking a court, and often the same prosecutor’s office, to revisit a case it considers closed. Knowing how prosecutors weigh those requests tells us what to lead with: a clear legal error, a record of rehabilitation, or a sentence that no longer makes sense.
We’ll tell you honestly whether relief is realistic before you spend money pursuing it.
Every post-conviction case comes down to a few questions:
Which clocks are running, and whether an exception applies if one has passed.
What the transcripts, plea paperwork, and sentencing order actually show.
Ineffective assistance, an illegal sentence, or a constitutional problem can reopen a case.
For sentence reductions, sealing, and pardons, your life since the conviction is the evidence.
The trial court, the Court of Appeals, CBI, the sheriff, or the governor's office. Each has its own rules.
We look at all of it. Then we decide, with you, which path to take first.
Every path is different, but most follow this order. Where your case sits in it decides what can still be done.
The first thing we do is find out which deadlines apply and how much time is left. Some are only 35 or 49 days.
We get the court file, transcripts, plea paperwork, and sentencing order. Most post-conviction arguments are won or lost on what the record shows.
Appeal, motion, petition, or negotiation. We choose the route that fits your goals, your record, and the time left.
We prepare the motion or petition with the evidence behind it: the legal argument, and for many requests your treatment, work history, and letters of support.
Prosecutors can respond, and in many cases victims have a right to be notified and heard. We prepare for both.
We argue it in court. After an order is entered, we follow up to make sure it's carried out.
Recent outcomes in post-conviction cases.
Governor Jared Polis granted our client a full pardon for a felony from the 1990s.
Our client's sex offender deregistration petition was granted.
Probation violation resolved without further sanction.
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.
These are the questions we hear most from people living with a conviction or a probation sentence. The answers below are general. Your case, your sentence, and the time since it ended decide how they apply to you.
For a felony in district court, 49 days after sentencing. For a misdemeanor or traffic case in county court, 35 days. Municipal court appeals are 35 or 14 days, depending on the court. Missing the deadline usually ends the appeal, so call early.
Often, if you act in time. A motion to reconsider the sentence under Rule 35(b) is due within 126 days of sentencing, or of the end of an appeal. After that, the options are narrower: a Rule 35(c) motion for legal or constitutional errors, or a challenge to a sentence the law didn’t authorize, which can be raised at any time.
A judge, not a jury, decides whether you violated probation. The prosecution has to prove a technical violation by a preponderance of the evidence, and a new crime beyond a reasonable doubt. If probation is revoked, the judge can impose any sentence originally available, so bring a lawyer.
Often, through a pardon, which (unless it says otherwise) waives the state firearm ban and also removes the federal bar. Depending on the conviction, Colorado law may not bar you at all, but federal law still bars anyone with a felony conviction. If you were denied a purchase, you have 30 days to ask CBI to review the denial.
No. Sealing limits who can see the record, but it doesn’t vacate the conviction and doesn’t restore firearm rights. A pardon is the usual route.
Many people can. You can petition 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. Some convictions carry lifetime registration with no petition.
