Boulder County DUI Attorney

Attorney Profile: Christopher H. Cessna

Before law school, Chris Cessna served as a law enforcement officer for ten years. During this time, he received formal training and experience in conducting DUI investigations through the administration of standardized field sobriety testing and the operation of the intoxilyzer 4011 and 5000.

In 1996, Chris was accepted into the University Of Denver College Of Law. During his law school tenure, Chris served as a law clerk to the Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation. After his second year of law school Chris served as an intern deputy district attorney prosecuting traffic cases at trial, and was selected to research, write and submit an appellate brief to the Colorado Supreme Court for its deliberation and consideration on the admissibility of “Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus evidence in DUI cases”.

In 2002, Chris opened his own private practice with a concentration on defending DUI matters. Since that time, Chris’ litigation skills and understanding of the complexities of drinking and driving offenses has resulted in obtaining dismissals of drinking and driving charges for his clients either during the pre-trial phase, motions phase or jury trial phase of a case.

Why You Should Hire Chris Cessna

Few offenses in America’s criminal justice system (including murder trials) call for greater attorney expertise than cases involving driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. Properly defending a DUI case is just as complex as defending any “DNA murder” case because DUIs almost always involve scientific evidence (the chemical evidence obtained from you such as breath or blood samples and even the standardized field sobriety tests administered along side the road).

For that reason, Chris is one of only two DUI attorneys in Colorado who owns his own intoxilyzer 5000 (the machine you took your breath test on). Chris has also been state and federally certified and formally trained to operate, maintain and repair the intoxilyzer 5000. Such training and experience is vital to properly defending one of these complex cases.

Chris is also the only defense attorney in Colorado who is a NHTSA certified Instructor in the administration of the “Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs). These are the same tests or maneuvers which the officer asked you to perform along the side of the road.

Professional Memberships and Associations

• National College of DUI Defense; Colorado Bar Association, Colorado Criminal Defense Bar.

DUI Related Training and Certifications

• Breath Alcohol Technician Training for Legal Professionals, Industrial Training & Design Ltd., Denver, Colorado, June 1, 2007.

• Mastering Scientific Evidence in DUI cases (14th Annual) – National College of DUI Defense – Dallas, Texas, April 19, 2007.

• Guest Lecturer / Instructor Advanced DUI – DWI Seminar, Defenders Education, Inc. Albuquerque, N.M., February 16, 2006.

• Breath Alcohol Technician Training for Legal Professionals, Industrial Training & Design Ltd., Las Vegas, Nevada, October 9, 2006.

• Criminal and Administrative Consequences for Commercial Driver’s, Colorado Department of Revenue, Denver, Colorado, September 26, 2006.

• Mastering Scientific Evidence in DUI cases, Harvard Law School, July 18, 2006.

• NHTSA / IACP Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus / Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Instructor School, Lapier & Associates, Las Vegas, Nevada, May 3, 2006.

• Mastering Scientific Evidence in DUI cases (13th Annual) – National College of DUI Defense – Dallas, Texas, March 30, 2006.

• Advanced Scientific Evidence DUI Seminar, Ohio Criminal Defense Bar, Columbus, Ohio.

• NHTSA / IACP Advanced Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus / Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Course – Walden, Platt & Assoc. – Atlanta, Georgia, December 2, 2005.

• NHTSA / IACP Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus / Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Refresher Course – Walden, Platt & Assoc. – Atlanta, Georgia, December 2, 2005.

• Strategies in Handling DUI and DWAI Trials in Colorado – Denver, Colorado.

• Under The Microscope – Beating DUIs with Science – National Assoc. of Criminal Defense Lawyers – Las Vegas, Nevada.

• Maintenance and Repair of the Intoxilyzer 5000 – C.E.S. Consulting – Palm Beach, Florida, June 24 – 25, 2005.

• DUI Scientific Evidence Seminar, Colorado Bar Association, Denver, Colorado, May 2005.

• NHTSA / IACP Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus / Standardized Field Sobriety Testing – Walden, Platt & Assoc. – San Antonio, Texas, May 12, 2005.

• Mastering Scientific Evidence in DUI cases (12th Annual) – National College of DUI Defense – Dallas, Texas, April 28, 2005.

• Advanced Colorado DUI Litigation – Denver, Colorado.

• Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus / NHTSA Standardized Field Sobriety Testing– Arizona Highway Patrol, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, May 18, 1993.

• Intoxilyzer 4011 Operator’s Course – Arizona Highway Patrol, Tucson, Arizona, November 2, 1994.

• Intoxilyzer 5000 Operator’s Course – Arizona Highway Patrol, Tucson, Arizona, November 2, 1994.

• Drug Recognition Screening – Arizona Highway Patrol

• Advanced Narcotics Investigations – DEA

• Basic Standardized Field Sobriety Testing at the following police academies:

• • United States Air Force Police Academy, December 19, 1985.
  • Charlotte (North Carolina) Police Academy, March 22, 1988.
  • Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, October 29, 1992.
  • Received over 2,000 hours of law enforcement and investigative training from 1987 – 1996.

Other Professional Information

• Certified Intoxilyzer 5000 Operator, U.S. Department of Transportation

• Awarded Appreciation of Law Enforcement Service Plaque from the First Judicial District Office of the District Attorney;

• Guest Law School Lecturer – University of Denver College of Law, (Cross-exam techniques), Denver, Colorado

• Guest Legal Instructor – Annual Federal Agent’s Legal Training and Refresher Update Seminar (DUI and Constitutional Law Update), St. Louis, Missouri

• Police Academy Instructor and College Adjunct Faculty Instructor of Police Recruits in Search & Seizure. Legal Liability, and Constitutional Law at multiple Colorado police academies

• Selected to research, write and submit an appellate brief to the Colorado Supreme Court for its deliberation on the admissibility of “Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus evidence in DUI cases”

• Recognized agency-wide by the United States Department of the Interior for six successful felony investigations/prosecutions.

• Received award from the United States Department of the Interior for the capture of armed felons.

• Received highest performance evaluation possible for a United States Department of Interior law enforcement agent.

• Awarded the Honor Graduate medal, United States Air Force.

• Honorable Discharge, United States Air Force.

• Recognized by the United States Court of Appeals in United States v. Albers, 136 F.3d 670 (9th Cir. 1998).