Hypothetical: a sixty-year-old man in Castle Rock applies for a permit to carry a concealed handgun. Since Colorado is a “shall issue” state, he presumes he will have no troubles getting approved. Imagine his shock, when he is denied his permit! Upon further investigation by a qualified Colorado criminal attorney, the man discovers that over forty years ago, when he was eighteen, a felony conviction was entered into his record for corruption of minors.
The man swears that this information is incorrect. The conviction arose from a party the man threw at his parents’ house, wherein underage drinking occurred. When the police arrived he was arrested and charged. He insists that his criminal defense attorney pled the conviction down to a misdemeanor charge.
He appeals the decision, but it comes back the same. He contacts a new Castle Rock criminal defense lawyer who determines that while he may have pled his case down, it was filed on record incorrectly and so he is stuck with a felony charge for something he did when he was little more than a kid, a charge that not only prevents him from carrying, but from owning firearms. The man, an avid hunter, is devastated. Based on the age of the crime and that he is unlikely to repeat, it may be possible to have the conviction expunged, but such an effort could take years and cost thousands of dollars.
While this scenario may seem far-fetched, there have been identical cases that have happened all over the nation. Criminal convictions stick with you for your entire life, and should never be handled cavalierly. It’s true-something that you did forty years ago can eventually come back to bite you. So if you find yourself in trouble with the law, make sure you acquire a strong Castle Rock criminal defense attorney.
