A Personal Message from Mark Hanchey

I have been doing this a long time. I have tried Homicide cases and Traffic tickets. I have seen the real and practical effects that criminal charges have on individuals and their families. I have seen the inevitable human wreckage left in the wake of criminal convictions and the often horrific sentences which follow them. Wreckage in the form of severed relationships, parents being separated from their children, homes and livelihoods lost, and lives forever shattered.

I have learned in my 25 years of practice that without an effective advocate, criminal Defendants in this state will be absolutely ran over by a system that is uncaring, unlistening, and often profoundly unfair. If you are charged with a crime the caption on the top of your case will read “People of the State of Colorado vs. YOU”. You will be faced with a District Attorney’s Office which has dozens of trained lawyers, investigators, and support staff all of whom are committed to finding you guilty and exacting the most harsh sentence possible, regardless of whether or not it is otherwise just. Often, the only thing standing between a criminal Defendant and the full might of the State or Federal Government is one dedicated and brave ally, his or her Defense Attorney.

It has become fashionable in today’s culture to deride Defense Attorneys and say that they twist the truth or that their only concern is about getting guilty people off. But if those same critics are charged with a crime and they themselves begin to feel the full weight of the system crushing their every hope for a future, Defense Attorneys no longer appear so villainous.

What I do is important and I am unapologetic in my zealous and aggressive defense of my clients. It is a responsibility that I take very very seriously and I personally feel that Defense Attorneys are the last true safeguard of those Constitutional Rights that our Founding Fathers demanded be memorialized in the Bill of Rights. I recognize that every case that I accept is hugely important to my client as well as his or her family. My commitment, should you choose my firm to help you with your criminal case, is that you will be more than simply the name on the back of file. You will be more than a Court date or a Motion’s Hearing. You will be more than another Police Report that I have to read or another Trial for which I have to prepare. You are a human being and you deserve to be treated with dignity and fairness. I will always be honest with you and sometimes the truth may not be what you want to hear. But my goal today is the same as it was over twenty five years ago when I entered my very first Appearance on behalf of a criminal Defendant: the absolute minimization of damage to you as a result of whatever charge you may be facing.

If you have been charged with a crime this may well be the darkest journey which you undertake during your entire life. I hope that it is a journey which you will allow me to help guide you safely through. I assure you that I will be there if you need me.

Thank you, Mark S. Hanchey

Go Back