Colorado v. Hacke
Annotate this CaseAt the time of his appeal, defendant John Hacke was out of custody. The issue his appeal presented for the Colorado Supreme Court's review was whether Hacke was entitled to a preliminary hearing on the charge of identity theft, a class 4 felony. After Hacke was arrested, he posted bond. During a subsequent court appearance, he asserted that he was entitled to a preliminary hearing because he was facing mandatory sentencing. Since the State did not initially take a definitive position on this contention, the court scheduled a preliminary hearing. However, the court afforded the State an opportunity to object to the preliminary hearing later if warranted. When the parties appeared again, the court ruled that Hacke was not entitled to a preliminary hearing because identity theft didn't require mandatory sentencing. The district court denied Hacke’s request for a preliminary hearing. The Supreme Court concurred: "The relevant inquiry isn’t whether Hacke’s criminal history subjects him to mandatory sentencing if he is convicted of identity theft. It’s whether identity theft, the class 4 felony he’s accused of committing, requires a mandatory sentence. Class 4 felony identity theft does not require a mandatory sentence. Therefore, Hacke is not entitled to a preliminary hearing."
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