CADP Stories about Donta Page

Donta Page

News stories about Donta Page:

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Page, Donta: A Letter from Donta Page's Attorney
Read about Donta Page from his attorney, who urged CADP supporters to send letters to the trial judges. (2/01, CADP)
Page, Donta: The Politics of Death
State Sens. Ken Chlouber, R-Leadville, and Rob Hernandez, D-Denver, are pissed off. They're angry because convicted murderer Donta Page didn't get the death penalty. They're so angry that they've introduced legislation intended to eliminate the three-judge system currently used in Colorado death penalty cases. It would seem the Senators have forgotten that the three-judge panel they're out to ax was actually put in place in 1995 to prevent death penalty decisions from being influenced by such things as poorly-informed, rhetoric-spouting politicians-politicians like Chlouber and Hernandez. (3/15/01, Boulder Weekly. News Commentary by Joel Dyer.)
Page, Donta: Executions Wanted
State lawmakers are calling once again for reform of the system they put in place six years ago to determine which convicted murderers will live and which will die. And once again, they're acting for the wrong reason -- because some of them want to see more killers executed in Colorado. ... As brutal as Page's crime was, two of the judges ruled that it fell short of the standard for death by lethal injection -- and that an execution would "lower the bar" in future death-penalty cases. The judges also took into account the horrible treatment Page received as a child, when he was the victim of sexual assault and repeated beatings. (3/13/01, Editorial by The Daily Camera)
Page, Donta: One Size Justice Not A Good Fit for All
As in many of these cases, my heart and mind come in conflict. I am anti-death penalty, and not only because innocent people might be executed. I think killing killers doesn't deter anyone, but rather that capital punishment suggests killing is somehow a legitimate response to killing. We are caught in a deadly cycle. ... Our state legislators want more death penalties. In order to get more, they took the decision from juries and gave it to a panel of judges. Now, in light of the Page decision, some want to give it to one judge. The problem with death-penalty cases is that those in the courtroom don't see only a killer. They see a real person. In Page's case, it was a real person who had been abused all his life. The question was whether death was the only answer to that life. (3/13/01, Rocky Mountain News. News commentary by Mike Littwin.)
Page, Donta: I Never Condoned What Murderer Did
But the application of the death penalty is so arbitrary, so capricious in this state it is virtually meaningless. And I found particularly noteworthy that no one who called or wrote in disgust over the Page column ever mentioned the word "deterrent" to justify the death penalty. It isn't one. And now, the three-judge panel that allowed Page to live the rest of his life behind bars is being attacked, their competency questioned, their compassion called a liability, a sign they are unfit for the bench. The legislature now, too, has jumped in -- predictably so. A senator last week introduced a bill that would toss out the three-judge panel and give the execution question to the judge who presided over the case. Nevermind the judge in the Page case voted against killing him. (3/11/01, Rocky Mountain News. News commentary by Bill Johnson.)
Page, Donta: Sentenced to Life Without Parole
A three-judge panel spared Donta Page from the death penalty Friday, citing qualms over his long history of childhood abuse. Instead, the 25-year-old convict must serve life in prison without parole for the rape and fatal stabbing of Peyton Tuthill on Feb. 24, 1999. ... Jim Castle, one of Page's two attorneys, said he felt mixed emotions over the verdict. "It's sad that it had to get this far," he said, noting that the defense conceded Page's crime and was prepared before trial to accept a life sentence. "The more that we focus on our own anger and not on the healing process, the less we're able to actually prevent this stuff from happening in the future." (3/3/01, Rocky Mountain News)
Page, Donta: Killer Spared Death Penalty
A unanimous three-judge panel called Donta Page's attack on Peyton Tuthill, 24, a heinous crime, but they said Page's upbringing in the inner city of Washington, D.C., where he was beaten by his mother and raped by a neighbor, weighed against execution. (3/3/01, The Denver Post)
Page, Donta: Judges Debate Death Penalty
A three-judge panel heard final arguments Tuesday on whether convicted killer Donta Page should be put to death for the rape and murder of a Capitol Hill woman. Denver District Judge Joseph Meyer, and Jefferson County District Judges Leland Anderson and Brooke Jackson now have 10 days to decide whether Page should get the death penalty or life in prison without parole. (2/28/01, Rocky Mountain News)
Page, Donta: A Story of Life, Death
Pat Tuthill crossed the courtroom Monday like a woman walking against a cold, hard current. Slowly, all in black, she carried to the witness stand a vase of flowers and two framed portraits of her daughter, Peyton, who died at 24 at the hands of a rapist. ... A three-judge panel heard the testimony as part of deciding whether Page will spend his life in prison or die by lethal injection. (2/28/01, Rocky Mountain News)
Page, Donta: Step Closer to Death Penalty
DENVER -- A three-judge panel has moved convicted murderer Donta Page a step closer to facing the death penalty in the rape and killing of a 24-year-old woman two years ago.In a unanimous decision Friday, the three-judge District Court panel ruled that mitigating factors in the case did not outweigh aggravating circumstances. If they had decided the other way, Page could have avoided the death penalty. ... Page's lawyers had argued that he was abused, neglected and sexually assaulted as a child and has brain damage. They also argued against the death penalty because the killing wasn't premeditated. (2/25/01, The Daily Camera)
Page, Donta: Judge Denies Page New Trial
A judge denied an appeal by Page's attorney to consider new evidence on Thursday. ... Paie's lawyers wanted a new trial because they discovered new medical documents that they say prove Page is mentally ill because of childhood physical abuse. (2/15/01, TheDenverChannel.com)
Page, Donta: Lawyers Seek New Trial, Citing Killer's Childhood Abuse
Lawyers for convicted murderer and rapist Donta Page are seeking a new trial based on newly discovered evidence. Throughout his November trial, his lawyers claimed Page suffered severe brain damage as a result of childhood beatings by his mother. Page was convicted Nov. 21 for the February 1999 sexual assault and beating death of 24-year-old Peyton Tuthill in her Denver home. His death-penalty hearing before a three-judge panel is scheduled to start Feb. 20. The motion for a new trial will be ruled on this week. (2/13/01, The Denver Post)

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