The Denver District Attorney’s Office prosecuted Celina for a year and half, even after they admitted that they could not prove the most serious charges they brought against her. Finally, after hours and hours of lawyer work and many, many motions, the DA’s Office moved to voluntarily dismiss the case right before trial.

Celina has brought two civil lawsuits arising out of the prosecution. The first alleges that the Denver DA’s Office has a pattern and practice of dismissing and refiling cases between Denver District Court and Denver County Court in order to evade statutory speedy trial rules. Importantly, this case seeks to establish that the DA’s Office, like any other government agency, can be sued for declaratory and injunctive relief when it violates the Colorado Constitution.

Celina’s second lawsuit challenges a practice that lies at the heart of unjust prosecution in the U.S.: coercive plea bargaining. Even after the DA’s Office knew it did not have enough evidence to continue prosecuting Celina—and had good reason to believe that its key witness had been untruthful—prosecutors continued trying to get Celina to take a deal that would have forced to her to admit to something she did not do and resulted in a criminal conviction. Ms. Aragon seeks both monetary and equitable relief designed to compensate her for the wrongful prosecution and to end coercive plea bargaining in Denver.