Attorney Profile

About Christopher H. Cessna

Serving as a law enforcement offices for ten years prior to becoming an attorney, Chris Cessna has experience and training in investigating DUIs from field sobriety tests to the use of breathalyzers. After his time as a law enforcement officer, Chris was accepted into the University Of Denver College Of Law in 1996. Chris served as a law clerk while in law school for the Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation, began prosecuting traffic cases at trail as an intern deputy district attorney after his second year in law school, and eventually wrote an appellate brief about the admissibility of “Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus evidence in DUI cases” to the Colorado Supreme Court.

Chris went on to open his own private practice in 2002, concentrating on defending those involved in DUI matters. With his experience as a former law officer and his time as a law student, Chris has come to understand the complexities of DUI offenses resulting in numerous dismissals for his clients in either the pre-trail, motion, or jury trail phases.

Why You Should Hire Chris Cessna

Chris Cessna has proudly defended DUI cases for a number of years, he has come to realize that in America’s criminal justice system there are very few offenses that require a skilled and dedicated attorney like DUI cases. With years of expertise in DUI cases as a former law enforcement offices, Chris Cessna properly defends our client's DUI cases with the use of various scientific evidence methods he has been trained on over the years, these include: chemical evidence obtained from blood and/or breath samples as well as the standard sobriety test that is administered when being pulled over.

To this end attorney Cessna is one of the only ones to own his own Intoxilyzer 5000 and be a NHTSA certified Instructor. This means that Chris Cessna knows the proper handling and administering methods for the “Standardized Field Sobriety Tests" (SFSTs). When being pulled over this is the same method and equipment that is used to determine if you are in fact driving under the influence, it is important to have an attorney on your side that knows how these are administered as your rights may have been violated at the time of your arrest. Contact our experienced attorney today for the representation you deserve.

Professional Memberships and Associations

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

DUI Related Training and Certifications

• Gas Chromatography: Troubleshooting & Method Development, Lecture/Laboratory (Dr. Harold McNair, Fulbright Scholar and Professor Emeritus & Dr. Lee Polite), American Chemical Society and Axion Laboratories, Chicago, July 20-24, 2009.
• Emory University Blood & Urine Seminar (Special Guest Lecturer, Dr. A.W. Jones, Sweden), Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, December 3, 2008.
• Mastering Scientific Evidence in DUI Cases, Harvard Law School, July 17, 2008.
• Understanding the Intricacies of the DUI Case, National College of DUI Defense, Wyoming Trial Lawyer's Association, Laramie, Wyoming, June 5, 2008.
• Invited Guest Speaker/Instructor, Strategies in Handling DUI, DWAI & DUID Cases in Colorado, Lorman Education Services, Denver, Colorado, April 25, 2008.
• Mastering Scientific Evidence in DUI Cases (15th Annual) - National College of DUI Defense - Dallas, Texas, March 27, 2008.
• Drug Recognition Expert / DRE - NHTSA Drug Evaluation and Classification Program (DECP), Walden, Platt & Assoc., Austin, Texas, February 15, 2008.
• Advanced Trial Cross-examination: Science and Techniques, Pozner & Dodd, Denver, Colorado, December 14, 2007.
• 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 Gas Chromatograph Operator, American Chemical Society & Axion Laboratories;

• 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 Speaker/Instructor, Strategies in Handling DUI Cases in Colorado, Lorman Education Services, Denver, Colorado, April 25, 2008.

• Guest Speaker/Instructor, Advanced DUI for New Mexico Attorneys, Albuquerque, New Mexico, February 15, 2007.

• 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).