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News
Colorado’s Death Row
Robert Harlan was convicted
and sentenced to death in 1995 for the murder
of a casino waitress and attempted murder of
a woman who came to her aid.
Although his conviction
was affirmed on direct appeal, Kathleen Lord
and Sharlene Reynolds
of the Colorado State Public Defenders Office
did an incredible job in having Judge Vigil
of the Adams County District Court vacate
the death sentence because of juror misconduct.
Jurors in that case improperly brought Bibles
into the jury room and wrote down and quoted
passages from the Old Testament. Such reliance
on outside sources is strictly forbidden
and
jurors are instructed are instructed accordingly.
Also credit the crucial work of investigator
Raelee Knapp. Ralee's juror interviews were
crucial
to the
victory in the case, and getting jurors to
openly talk
like she did is a remarkable achievement. Additionally,
Raelee has been involved in many of the death
penalty cases in Colorado over the last several
years.
However,
the State of Colorado appealed that decision
and the matter was before
the Colorado Supreme Court, where Kathleen
Lord continues to represent Mr. Harlan.
On March 28, 2005, the Colorado Supreme Court
overturned Harlan's death sentence, instead
sentencing Harlan to life in prison without
the possibility of parole. (3/28/05, CADP.
Updated and based on a story that originally
appeared in CADP's The Abolitionist, Volume
2, Number 2.)
Related Stories
- About
Broken Links
- Death
Sentence Upheld in 1993 Killing
DENVER -- The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday
upheld the death sentence for Robert Harlan in
the slaying of a cocktail waitress, but threw
out his conviction of attempted murder in her
death. Harlan was convicted in the 1993 kidnap,
rape and murder of Rhonda Maloney, 25, of Broomfield
and of trying to kill Jacquie Creazzo, a passer-by
who tried to rescue Maloney. Creazzo remains
paralyzed. ... The high court ruled that the
trial court committed a harmless error when it
submitted the conviction for the attempted murder
of Maloney to establish two statutory aggravating
factors toward imposition of the death penalty.
The way the trial court handled the sentencing
phase "hardly serves as a model for selecting
a fair and impartial capital jury (and) comes
precipitously close to requiring reversal of
the defendant's sentence," the ruling stated.
(3/28/00, The Daily Camera)
- State
High Court Upholds Killer's Death Sentence
The Colorado Supreme Court upheld Robert Harlan's
death sentence Monday, but said it came close
to overturning it because of jury selection problems.
The high court also said it feared racial bias
against Harlan, who is black, because an all-white
jury convicted him of kidnaping, raping and murdering
a Caucasian woman. ... The Supreme Court said
it didn't like the way prospective jurors were
questioned about their views of capital punishment. "The
means by which the jury was selected comes precipitously
close to requiring reversal of the defendant's
sentence," Justice Gregory Hobbs wrote for
the unanimous court. (3/28/00, Denver Rocky Mountain
News)
- Murderer
Fails to Get Execution Appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a death
penalty appeal by Robert Harlan, convicted in the
slaying of a Broomfield woman. ... The Colorado
Supreme Court had upheld Harlan's murder conviction
and death sentence in March 2000. But the court
threw out his conviction of attempted murder and
a 48-year sentence that came with it. (4/17/01,
The Daily Camera)
- Harlan
Execution Set for August
BRIGHTON -- The execution of Robert Harlan
is set for the week of Aug. 5 in the 1994 rape
and murder of Rhonda Maloney. But defense attorney
Kathleen Lord said she will bring a new appeal,
making the August execution unlikely. Lord filed
papers for a stay of execution even before the
hearing Monday at which District Court Judge Harlan
Bockman set the execution date. (6/5/01, Rocky
Mountain News)
- Harlan
Jurors: Bible Wasn't Read
BRIGHTON -- Three jurors testified today that
they clearly remember deliberations before deciding
to sentence Robert Harlan to death and that no
Scriptures or passages from the Bible were read.
Defense attorney Kathleen Lord filed a motion to
overturn Harlan's death sentence, saying that jurors
relied on passages from the Bible that included
one calling for punishment of "an eye for
an eye." Using religious works during jury
deliberations is improper because they are not
part of Colorado law, Lord argues. (4/17/03, Rocky
Mountain News)
- Harlan
Jury's Use of Bible Argued
BRIGHTON - Testimony concluded Friday in a
hearing on whether jurors improperly consulted
the Bible for guidance when they sentenced convicted
murderer Robert Harlan to death in 1995, and Adams
County District Judge John J. Vigil gave attorneys
until May 2 to submit their final arguments to
him in writing. He gave no indication when he would
rule.
There appears to be little doubt that, at some point, some of the jurors turned to
Scriptures during their deliberations. But did they look to the Bible for divine
guidance on what the fate of murderers should be? Or did they merely seek comfort
after they'd already decided to sentence Harlan to death? (4/19/03, Rocky Mountain
News)
- Case
Spotlights Moral Convictions in Jury Room
But is it true that jurors can't bring their
strong moral convictions to the jury room? The
answer: It depends. That's what's behind a flap
over whether jurors improperly consulted the Bible
when deciding a notorious death- penalty case that
shocked Colorado nine years ago, and is back in
the headlines again. Adams County District Judge
John J. Vigil is weighing whether the death sentence
of Robert Harlan should be overturned. (5/5/03,
Rocky Mountain News)
- Judge
Overturns Harlan Death Sentence
A judge today threw out the death sentence
for a man convicted of murder, ruling that jurors
were improperly exposed to the Bible and passages
describing God’s view on punishment as they
deliberated. ... "If any case
merits the death penalty, there cannot be serious
debate about this case being that case," Judge
John J. Vigil wrote. "The death penalty, however,
must be imposed in a constitutional manner." "Jury
resort to biblical code has no place in a constitutional
death penalty proceeding." (5/23/03, Rocky
Mountain News)
- Harlan
Death Sentence Tossed
An Adams County judge overturned the death
sentence for Robert
Harlan on Friday because jurors
consulted Bibles while deciding to impose
the death penalty. ... Harlan's sentence will
now be commuted to life in prison. " We're
exceptionally pleased with the decision," said
public defender Sharlene Reynolds. ... The
biblical passages followed are contrary to
Colorado
law but could influence jurors
and violate Harlan's right to have his sentence
decided on the basis of the evidence and the
law, Judge John Vigil said. (5/24/03, Rocky
Mountain News)
- Law
is Clear: No Bibles Allowed in Jury Room
It
has long been the law in this country that
the use of outside, or "extraneous," materials
by jurors invalidates a verdict, unless it
is clear that whatever was brought in to
the jury room played no role in the outcome.
(5/24/03,
Rocky Mountain News. News commentary by Scott
Robinson.)
- Harlan
Bible Case Back in Court
DENVER --
Jurors who sentenced a convicted killer
to die did nothing wrong when they studied
the Bible during deliberations - including
the verse that commands "eye
for eye, tooth for tooth," prosecutors
told the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday
as they sought to have the man put back
on death row. A lower court threw out the
death penalty given to Robert Harlan for
raping and murdering a 25-year-old cocktail
waitress in 1994. Defense attorneys challenged
the sentence after discovering five jurors
had looked up Bible verses, copied some
of them down and then talked about them
behind closed doors. ... "Don't we
have a duty to make sure the death penalty
isn't imposed under religious passion or
prejudice?" Justice
Gregory Hobbs asked. Hobbs also asked whether
the verses the jurors referred to were
part of Colorado law. (2/2/05, The Daily
Camera)
- State
Supreme Court Overturns Harlan Death
Penalty
A convicted murderer was spared execution
today when the Colorado Supreme Court ruled
a jury's death penalty recommendation was
tainted because jurors consulted a Bible
during deliberations. The court ordered
Robert Harlan to serve life in prison without
the possibility of parole. ... An Adams
County judge had overturned the death penalty
after learning of the role the Bible played
in the jury room, but the state had appealed.
(3/28/05, Rocky Mountain News)
- Justices
Stand by Harlan Ruling
The Colorado
Supreme Court on Monday refused to reconsider
its ruling overturning
a death sentence for convicted murderer
Robert Harlan. The court ruled March 31 that
Harlan's death sentence had to be overturned
because jurors consulted a Bible during
deliberations in the sentencing phase of
his trial. (4/19/05, Rocky Mountain News)
- Supreme
Court Review Sought in Harlan Case
Adams County District Attorney Don Quick
asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to review
the case of convicted murderer Robert Harlan,
whose death sentence was overturned because
jurors consulted a Bible in the deliberations
room. ... The Colorado Supreme Court ruled
3-2 in March that the death sentence imposed
on Harlan by the jury was unconstitutional
because of the Bible consultations. The state's
high court said Harlan had to be sentenced
instead to life in prison. ... The U.S. Supreme
Court is in summer recess and will not decide
whether to review the Harlan case until after
it reconvenes in October, Quick said. (7/16/05,
Rocky Mountain News)
- Robert
Harlan Won't Be Executed
Convicted murderer Robert
Harlan will die in prison instead
of by injection as a result of a decision
Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court, which
declined to hear arguments in the Adams
County case. ... The decision, announced
on the Supreme Court's first day back
in session, means Harlan's case will
be sent back to the trial court, where
he will automatically be sentenced to
life in prison without parole. (10/4/05,
Rocky Mountain News)
Search the news archives of the Boulder
Daily Camera, the Denver
Post, and the Denver
Rocky Mountain News for additional information.
For information on other prisoners, see Colorado's
Death Row.
See the Web site's News section
for more articles and information about the death
penalty.
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