People v. Calandra.
No. 24PDJ051. 6/24/2024. Stipulation to Discipline.
August 13, 2024
The Presiding Disciplinary Judge approved the parties’ stipulation to discipline and suspended Colleen T. Calandra (attorney registration number 41788) for three years. To be reinstated to the practice of law, Calandra must prove by clear and convincing evidence that she has been rehabilitated, has complied with all disciplinary orders and rules, and is fit to practice law. Calandra’s suspension took effect July 29, 2024.
In July 2022, Calandra was charged in Broomfield County District Court with one count of first degree perjury and one count of attempt to influence a public servant, both class 4 felonies. In February 2024, Calandra entered a guilty plea to the latter charge as part of a deferred sentence. After Calandra completed the deferred sentence, the plea was withdrawn and the case was dismissed and sealed.
In 2022, during her own domestic relations case, Calandra pro se moved to strike the opposing party’s motion to restrict parenting time, falsely denying in her motion that she had consumed alcohol on the day of her supervised visitation with the parties’ child. Calandra attached to her motion a fabricated EtG test result that showed she tested negative for alcohol when in fact the test she took did not screen for alcohol. At the hearing on the motion to restrict parenting time, Calandra testified that she had not consumed alcohol on the day of the supervised visitation, that she had taken an EtG test on the day following the visitation, that she received an EtG printout from an employee of the testing facility, and that someone watched her urinate. In addition, Calandra denied fabricating the test results she had provided to the court and to her former spouse and his counsel, and she represented to the court that she had documentation purporting to show that she submitted to the EtG test. The court entered findings that Calandra had consumed alcohol on the day of the visitation and had fabricated the document showing that she tested negative for alcohol on the following day. Through counsel, Calandra moved to reconsider the court’s findings on numerous grounds, supporting her motion with her affidavit. Twelve days later, Calandra moved to retract her affidavit and her testimony at the hearing.
Through this conduct, Calandra violated Colo. RPC 8.4(b) (it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects) and Colo. RPC 8.4(c) (it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation).
The case file is public per CRCP 242.41(a).