Castle Rock Man Gets 20 Years for Domestic Strangulation Under New Colorado Law
Joseph Rivera, 43, must serve 17 of his 20 years before parole eligibility after strangling his wife while their two children were inside the home.
A 911 dispatcher heard the phone drop, then the sounds of a struggle. When Douglas County deputies arrived at the Bennett home, they found the woman outside with blood on her face, swollen eyes, and visible bruising on her neck. Her two children were still inside.
Joseph Rivera, 43, was sentenced Monday in Douglas County to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of first-degree assault by strangulation for the July 2025 attack on his wife, which prosecutors with the 23rd Judicial District Attorney's Office said nearly turned deadly.
The case has drawn attention beyond the courtroom because of what happens after the sentence is handed down. Under a relatively new Colorado law requiring many violent offenders to serve most of their prison terms before becoming eligible for parole, Rivera will need to serve at least about 17 years of his 20-year sentence before he can be considered for release.
District Attorney George Brauchler said the case demonstrates how Colorado's updated sentencing laws will affect how long violent offenders remain behind bars.
Not everyone views the 85% mandatory threshold as sound policy. A speaker identified only as Decker offered a pointed critique of the approach. "It's easy to say to get tough on crime... but what these mandatory sentences do is it gets tough on budgets, it gets tough on population, and it gets tough on those individuals who we have elected and appointed and hired to exercise discretion in important cases," Decker said. The affiliation and title of the speaker were not specified in available reporting.
The attack unfolded during a domestic dispute at the couple's Bennett home. The victim called 911 herself, but dispatchers reported hearing the phone drop, followed by the sounds of a struggle, before they could assess what was happening. Deputies who responded found her outside, her injuries consistent with a violent physical assault.
Decker's role and the exact statutory citation behind Colorado's 85% parole-eligibility requirement have not been confirmed in court documents made publicly available as of this report. The 23rd Judicial District Attorney's Office, which covers Douglas, Elbert, Lincoln, and Teller counties, prosecuted the case out of its Castle Rock jurisdiction.
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