4th Judicial DA says 2 felony charges should be added to Colorado law
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- On March 10, 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen testified that the Misdemeanor Reform Act, a legislative law passed in 2021 and now law in Colorado that went into effect on March 1, doesn't address two prevalent crimes in the state.
The new law allows for previous felons to escape a POWPO (Possession of a Weapon by a Previous Offender) arrest if the crime they are committing does not fall under a VRA (Victims Rights Act) crime. Those crimes include some of the most severe violent crimes, like murder and rape.
Allen, along with Fountain Police Chief Chris Heberer, Pueblo Police Chief Chris Noeller, and Colorado Springs Police Commander Jeff Strossner, testified against the law at a Colorado legislature meeting. They advocated for drug distribution, along with aggravated motor vehicle theft, to be added to the list of crimes that would constitute a POWPO arrest. Their desire was for those felonies to be added to HB22-1257, which adds around 60 more felonies to the Misdemeanor Reform Act.
"Drug distributors are carrying firearms with them. One is to protect their drugs, two is to protect the money that they collect from their sales," DA Allen said.
Allen added that aggravated motor vehicle theft was a crime that contributed to five of their officer-involved shootings in El Paso County in 2021.
"These are inherently dangerous felony offenses. If someone is convicted of their types of felony offenses, they ought to be precluded from carrying firearms in the future," Allen said. "All we are doing in this legislative process it easier for offenders to victimize the community and we are seeing that."
Thursday, the Pueblo Police Department added the impact of this new law in a press release to the public regarding a recent arrest.
The release states, "Despite Reno being a convicted felon, he could not be charged with possession of a Weapon by a Previous Offender (felony) due to a new law that took effect on March 1, 2022. His previous felony convictions were not VRA (Victim Rights Act) crimes."
"This is very frustrating for us and it's a concern for the community. I don't believe that drug dealers should be able to possess firearms and sell drugs," Pueblo Police Sergeant Franklyn Ortega said.
Ortega told KRDO that Reno was arrested on March 1, the day the law took effect, effectively tying their hands and prohibiting them from adding the POWPO charge.
"He did face consequences for selling drugs, but that was one of the few charges that we were able to arrest him for," Ortega said.
Allen told KRDO the reason it is imperative to add these felonies to the list is that Colorado leads the nation in aggravated motor vehicle theft, and Southern Colorado counties are not immune to that.
"What the legislature keeps forgetting is that there is that there are victims on the other side of these crimes," Allen said. "All we are doing in this legislative process is making it easier for offenders to victimize the community."
Allen said their plea for the addition of these felonies to House Bill 22-1257, designed to address potential mistakes in the Misdemeanor Reform Act, was unsuccessful.
"It was a very comprehensive study to get that list done. We just missed a couple, and that's really what I was up there to say is this list is great, let's add two more as these are inherently dangerous felony offenses," Allen said.
