Liberty

The Sharp Necklace Agreement

The parties to this case agree to the following:

  1. That driving while one's ability is impaired by alcohol is dangerous to the health and safety of the public and must be avoided at all costs.
  2. That statements by police officers which are inaccurate or untruthful are dangerous to the administration of justice and must be avoided at all costs.
  3. That it is an important function of police officers to enforce Colorado law prohibiting alcohol-impaired driving and that failure to enforce those laws vigorously would comprise a serious breach of duty and violation of public trust on the part of police.
  4. That it is an essential quality of police officers to be free of enmity or bias against any individual or group of individuals in the community they serve and that for any officer to act or even appear to act out of any such enmity or bias would constitute an abuse of power and a violation of public trust.
  5. That although Colorado law does not prohibit driving after drinking anything, clearly the wisest choice is not to drive after having had anything alcoholic to drink, including after drinking a sufficient amount to obtain a blood alcohol concentration of .08.
  6. That decency, security, and liberty alike demand that govemment officials shall be subjected to the same rules of conduct that are commands to the citizen. In a government of laws, existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our govemment is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare that in the administration of the criminal law the end justifies the means - to declare that the government may commit crimes in order to secure the conviction of a private criminal - would bring terrible retribution.
  7. The parties agree mistakes and/or errors in judgment have been made by all parties, that each party will strive to avoid any such errors in the future, and that it is in the best interest of justice to go forward with the tendered agreement.

Back to Colorado DUI Front Page