{"id":75076,"date":"2020-03-03T16:37:01","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T16:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/gov-jared-polis-sidesteps-questions-about-commuting-death-row-sentences\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T11:28:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T11:28:39","slug":"gov-jared-polis-sidesteps-questions-about-commuting-death-row-sentences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/gov-jared-polis-sidesteps-questions-about-commuting-death-row-sentences\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Jared Polis sidesteps questions about commuting death row sentences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The table that was used in the execution of Gary Lee Davis stands upright in the Colorado State Penitentiary in Ca\u00f1on City on Sept. 24, 1997. Davis\u2019 death by lethal injection is the only execution by that method conducted by the state.<\/span>David Zalubowski\/Associated Press file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis could use his broad powers to commute the sentences of the three men on the state\u2019s death row today.<\/p>\n

In fact, he could have converted their death sentences to life-in-prison immediately after taking office in January 2019.<\/p>\n

But Polis has sidestepped questions about how he will handle their cases, which became more pressing after the Colorado legislature passed a bill last week to repeal the death penalty. In recent comments, the governor has cited the fact that none of the inmates \u2013 Nathan Dunlap, Robert Ray and Sir Mario Owens \u2013 has submitted a clemency request to him as a response to how he will respond following the measure\u2019s passage.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of them are ripe for our review,\u201d Polis told The Colorado Sun.<\/p>\n

Colorado law gives the governor much leeway and little direction when it comes to clemency in capital punishment cases, and a formal clemency request isn\u2019t needed to make a decision on whether to commute a death sentence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the governor\u2019s discretion when and how he considers death penalty cases,\u201d said Stephanie Donner, who was chief legal counsel to former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. \u201cThere isn\u2019t a specified process outlined in law \u2013 in statute or in constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

State law on clemency in capital cases is extremely broad. It reads: \u201cThe governor is hereby fully authorized, when he deems it proper and advisable and consistent with the public interests and the rights and interests of the condemned, to commute the sentence in any case by reducing the penalty in a capital case to imprisonment for life or for a term of not less than 20 years at hard labor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polis\u2019 decision to wait in wielding those powers provides some insight into how he is working through one of the toughest decisions he will make during his tenure leading Colorado. He has said he will sign Senate Bill 100, the measure repealing the death penalty, once it reaches his desk.<\/p>\n

Polis also has said he would take the death penalty repeal into account when making his decision on the cases of Dunlap, Ray and Owens. But that\u2019s not all he will be considering.<\/p>\n

\"Polis\"
Polis<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019ll judge them on the individual merits,\u201d Polis told The Sun last week.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Polis\u2019 spokesman, Conor Cahill, said \u201cthe governor takes this responsibility seriously and is considering potential next steps,\u201d but didn\u2019t elaborate.<\/p>\n

(Last year, when lawmakers were debating a bill to repeal Colorado\u2019s death penalty that ultimately failed, The Sun asked Polis\u2019 office why, if he didn\u2019t support the death penalty, he hadn\u2019t taken action to commute the sentences of Dunlap, Owens and Ray. The office did not respond.)<\/p>\n

The governor has also in recent days cast doubt on Colorado\u2019s ability to carry out an execution.<\/p>\n

Polis told Colorado Public Radio last week that since Colorado doesn\u2019t have the drugs prescribed by state law to carry out lethal injections, \u201cit\u2019s very unlikely that those sentences would be able to be carried out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no legal means to carry out the death penalty in Colorado right now,\u201d he told CPR, calling the death penalty an \u201canachronistic method of punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s nuance to the situation. While it is true that Colorado lacks sodium thiopental, the drug specified in state law to carry out an execution by lethal injection, and likely couldn\u2019t procure the powerful anesthetic because it is no longer available on the open market, the Colorado Department of Corrections has options.<\/p>\n

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

The state\u2019s death penalty statute says prison officials can use \u201ca lethal quantity of sodium thiopental or other equally or more effective substance sufficient to cause death.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other drugs administered according to Colorado\u2019s capital punishment protocol are pancuronium bromide to cause paralysis and stop breathing, and potassium chloride to stop the heart.<\/p>\n

Colorado could use the barbiturate pentobarbital as an alternative to sodium thiopental, following other states\u2019 lead, though there would likely be extensive legal challenges mounted to any switch from the state\u2019s prescribed drug cocktail. There is also conflicting thought as to whether the state could find a way to get sodium thiopental.<\/p>\n

Last year, state prison officials told The Sun that while they lacked the drugs to carry out an execution, they would \u201ctake any steps we needed to take\u201d if ordered to do so. The Department of Corrections has tried in the past to procure the drugs.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the DOC said it still doesn\u2019t have the means to kill a prisoner by lethal injection and cast doubt on its future ability to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur current contract with our medication supplier for the prisons does not allow for the purchase of the drugs used in execution,\u201d said Annie Skinner, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections. \u201cIn addition, as has been reported previously, sodium thiopental is no longer available on the open market for executions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lethal injection is the only way a death penalty can be enforced in Colorado.<\/p>\n

Polis isn\u2019t the first governor to bring up the state\u2019s lack of lethal injection drugs as a problem with Colorado\u2019s capital punishment laws. When Hickenlooper granted an indefinite reprieve from execution in 2013 to Dunlap, who murdered four people in 1993 at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in Aurora, the then-governor cited the state\u2019s lack of drugs to complete an execution as one of the reasons.<\/p>\n

Donner worked on that case as Hickenlooper\u2019s top lawyer.<\/p>\n

Dunlap\u2019s indefinite reprieve remains in place and could only be changed by Polis or a successor.<\/p>\n

The other two men on death row are Ray and Owens. They were convicted in the 2005 murders of Javad Marshall Fields, 22, and his fianc\u00e9e, Vivian Wolfe, also 22.<\/p>\n

Fields was a witness to another murder and was targeted because he was set to testify in that case. Ray\u2019s and Owens\u2019 cases are still going through the lengthy appellate process.<\/p>\n

\"Javad
Javad Marshall Fields and his mother, state Sen. Rhonda Fields, an Aurora Democrat. Javad and his fianc\u00e9e, Vivian Wolfe, were murdered in 2005.<\/span>Courtesy of Sen. Rhonda Fields<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Fields was the son of state Sen. Rhonda Fields, an Aurora Democrat. Last month, Polis appointed Fields\u2019 daughter, Maisha Jamila Marshall Fields, to his clemency review board.<\/p>\n

The 11-member board\u2019s mission includes reviewing clemency applications and making nonbinding recommendations to the governor. Even though it\u2019s not outlined in the executive order, the Polis administration said the board will not consider death penalty cases, a protocol also adopted by Hickenlooper.<\/p>\n

Maisha Fields, a nurse who is a staff member on Hickenlooper\u2019s U.S. Senate campaign, is a supporter of the death penalty and has repeatedly testified at the Capitol against efforts to repeal capital punishment in Colorado. Sen. Fields shares her daughter\u2019s views on the death penalty and also argued against the repeal legislation.<\/p>\n

In an interview, Polis told The Sun that he did not inquire about whether Maisha Fields supported the death penalty and suggested he didn\u2019t know her position. \u201cIt\u2019s not a question that I asked in the interview process for clemency board \u2013 where those individuals stood on the death penalty,\u201d the governor said. \u201cSo I would expect, like among any group of Coloradans, there are probably different opinions on the death penalty among the members of the clemency board.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Fields says she would be surprised if Polis didn\u2019t know about her daughter\u2019s support for capital punishment. \u201cIt just baffles me that the governor would say he didn\u2019t know that,\u201d she said. \u201cShe\u2019s been down here testifying in support of not repealing it for years. Maybe he doesn\u2019t notice?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Fields said she will not lobby Polis against commuting the sentences of her son\u2019s killers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that does any good,\u201d she said. \u201cI think he clearly knows where I stand. I think out of courtesy, if he\u2019s thinking about doing that, as a crime victim, one of my rights is to have advance notification. And that\u2019s all I expect from him.\u201d<\/p>\n

James Castle, Owens\u2019 attorney, declined to comment when reached by phone on Monday. He said he didn\u2019t want to add to the pain of Owens\u2019 victims or Owens\u2019 family.<\/p>\n

The governor has not yet received Senate Bill 100 from the legislature. He has 10 days from when he receives the death penalty repeal bill to sign it or it becomes law without his signature.<\/p>\n

If Polis signs the legislation into law, Colorado will become the 22nd state to abolish the death penalty.<\/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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