{"id":65138,"date":"2020-03-23T23:59:59","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T05:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/polis-signs-bill-abolishing-colorado-death-penalty-commutes-3-death-sentences\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T05:15:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T11:15:22","slug":"polis-signs-bill-abolishing-colorado-death-penalty-commutes-3-death-sentences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/polis-signs-bill-abolishing-colorado-death-penalty-commutes-3-death-sentences\/","title":{"rendered":"Polis signs bill abolishing Colorado death penalty, commutes 3 death sentences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Colorado
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signs a bill into law in his office at the state Capitol on Thursday, March 5.<\/span>Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Gov. Jared Polis on Monday signed into law a bill abolishing<\/p>\n

Polis converted the death sentences of the men \u2014 Nathan Dunlap, Robert Ray and Sir Mario Owens \u2014 to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The governor\u2019s decision marks one of the most significant and emotional choices he\u2019s made since taking office in January 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommutations are typically granted to reflect evidence of extraordinary change in the offender. That is not why I am commuting these sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole,\u201d Polis said in a written statement. \u201cRather, the commutations of these despicable and guilty individuals are consistent with the abolition of the death penalty in the state of Colorado, and consistent with the recognition that the death penalty cannot be, and never has been, administered equitably in the state of Colorado.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polis added: \u201cWhile I understand that some victims agree with my decision and others disagree, I hope this decision provides clarity and certainty for them moving forward. The decision to commute these sentences was made to reflect what is now Colorado law, and done after a thorough outreach process to the victims and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polis\u2019 decision to sign death penalty bill into law wasn\u2019t a surprise. He had vowed to do so if it reached his desk. But the commutations, while rumored to be accompanying the governor\u2019s signing of the measure, were unexpected to the public.<\/p>\n

At least one victim\u2019s family expressed disappointment on Monday at the news.<\/p>\n

18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler, whose office handled the prosecution of all three death row inmates, blasted the commutations as political opportunism timed to coincide with a pandemic. He complained that neither he nor his office was consulted and that Polis should have provided, at the least, a heads up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no rush to commute the sentences of people who have been on death row for one to two decades,\u201d Brauchler said. \u201cIf you were looking to bury this horrendous decision, this was the best way to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"From
From left: Nathan Dunlap, Sir Mario Owens, Robert Ray.<\/span>Colorado Department of Corrections<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Dunlap\u2019s attorney, Madeline Cohen, applauded the commutations.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy commuting Nathan\u2019s death sentence to one of life without possibility of release, Gov. Polis has finally brought about a just and fair end to more than a quarter century of legal proceedings in this case,\u201d she said in a written statement. \u201cWe know that the families of Nathan\u2019s victims have a range of views about the death penalty and about his sentence. We respect all of their positions and we will always be deeply saddened by the pain and loss they have endured. We do hope, however, that today\u2019s decision allows them to find some sense of closure, and that the future brings them peace and healing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polis signed the death penalty repeal measure<\/a> in private, given the outbreak of the new coronavirus. Colorado is now the 22nd state to eliminate capital punishment.<\/p>\n

Monday was the deadline by which he had to either sign the measure, veto it or send it to the Colorado secretary of state to become law without his signature.<\/p>\n

The General Assembly took an unusually long time to send the bill to Polis. Legislative leadership said they held onto the measure to give the governor enough time to talk to victims\u2019 families before signing the measure, which he had said since last year that he would do.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of people reaching out to the governor right now,\u201d House Speaker KC Becker said March 9 of the delay.<\/p>\n

The legislation passed the Colorado General Assembly last month with bipartisan support, but opposition to the bill \u2014 while not enough to stop its passage \u2014 was both fierce and emotional.<\/p>\n

Two Democrats, Sen. Rhonda Fields and Rep. Tom Sullivan, vehemently opposed the repeal. Fields\u2019 son and his fianc\u00e9e were killed by Ray and Owens.<\/p>\n

Sullivan\u2019s son was murdered during the 2012 Aurora theater shooting and prosecutors tried unsuccessfully to sentence the gunman to death.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just hard for me to describe how I\u2019m feeling,\u201d Rhonda Fields said Monday. \u201cI feel like justice was just hijacked after years and years of court proceedings. Here we are with the stroke of a pen the governor just sweeps it away.\u201d<\/p>\n

The death row inmates\u2019 crimes<\/div>\n

Dunlap, who has spent 23 years awaiting execution since his sentencing in 1996, is the longest-serving death row inmate in modern Colorado history. He exhausted the last appeal he is legally guaranteed more than seven years ago.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Cohen, who has represented Dunlap for 15 years, said she had been able to speak with Dunlap about the governor\u2019s commutation \u2014 though not in person because of visitor restrictions at Colorado prisons due to the new coronavirus. She said Dunlap was \u201crelieved and grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three of those Dunlap murdered in 1993 were teenagers, working the closing shift at the Chuck E. Cheese restaurant, and their families have now spent many more years navigating the case\u2019s legal proceedings than they got with their loved ones. Last summer, the mother of Sylvia Crowell, one of the victims, died with Dunlap\u2019s sentence still in limbo. Crowell\u2019s father died the year prior.<\/p>\n

The cases of Ray and Owens are still going through the appellate process. They were sentenced to die for their roles in killing Javad Marshall Fields and his fianc\u00e9e, Vivian Wolfe, in 2005.<\/p>\n

Javad Marshall Fields was a witness to another fatal shooting and was targeted because he was set to testify in that case.<\/p>\n

Rhonda Fields said she had been in contact with the governor about his decision on Monday and that she knew it was coming. Her daughter, Maisha, said the commutations swept away everything they went through with Owens\u2019 and Ray\u2019s trials.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we finished the trial we were told this was finite,\u201d Maisha Fields said. \u201cWe were told: \u2018This is the end. This is what justice looks like.\u2019 Justice was kidnapped from us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brauchler said neither Polis nor anyone from the governor\u2019s office ever reached out to him on the capital cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot one time,\u201d he said. \u201cI got, like, two hours notice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Owens and Ray did not file for clemency, but Dunlap had in the past. Brauchler believes the law required Polis to consult with him before commuting Dunlap\u2019s sentence, but now that the decision has been made it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n

Brauchler also blasted the legislature for adding what\u2019s called a \u201csafety clause\u201d into Senate Bill 100, which prevents opponents of legislation from asking voters to halt a measure from going into effect. There has been talk of a ballot measure to reinstate capital punishment in Colorado.<\/p>\n

Pending cases can still result in death penalty<\/div>\n

Polis didn\u2019t have to commute the sentences of the death row inmates. Senate Bill 100 is not retroactive and thus doesn\u2019t affect their cases.<\/p>\n

He suggested last year that he would commute their sentences if the legislature sent him a bill repealing the death penalty.<\/p>\n

But recently, Polis had said the cases were not ripe for review because he hadn\u2019t received clemency requests for Dunlap, Ray and Owens. He also said he would weigh each case on its individual merits.<\/p>\n

Polis, however, had the power to remove their death penalty sentences at any time. And on Monday he put that authority to use.<\/p>\n

The last person Colorado put to death was Gary Lee Davis, who was executed in 1997 for kidnapping, raping and murdering a woman in Adams County.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors in Arapahoe, Denver and El Paso counties have in recent years sought capital punishment in a handful of cases, but juries rejected their efforts. Not since June 2009, when Ray was sentenced, has a Colorado jury signed off on death.<\/p>\n

There are multiple pending death penalty cases and potential death penalty cases in Colorado, including against admitted Planned Parenthood shooter Robert Lewis Dear Jr. and Dreion Dearing, who is accused of fatally shooting Adams County Sheriff\u2019s Deputy Heath Gumm.<\/p>\n

In the Dearing case, jury selection is underway.<\/p>\n

Those cases can still continue because Senate Bill 100 makes defendants ineligible for capital punishment only if they are charged on or after July 1, 2020.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear how or if Polis\u2019 decision to commute the sentences of Ray, Owens or Dunlap would affect those cases.<\/p>\n

Brauchler said his office currently has murder cases that he could potentially seek capital punishment in. He said he won\u2019t be deterred by Polis\u2019 commutations.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, journalist-owned news outlet exploring issues of statewide interest. Sign up for a newsletter and read more at coloradosun.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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