Colorado Death Row Update
-- By Randy Canney, CADP Board
Colorado currently has two individuals on
death
row, now that the United States Supreme
Court has refused to hear the State's appeal
in Robert Harlan's case. 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. The Colorado
Supreme Court upheld the Adams County District
Court who vacated 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.
The remaining individuals on death row are
Nathan Dunlap and Edward Montour. Dunlap
was convicted and sentenced to death in 1996
for the murder of four employees at an Aurora
Chuck E Cheese restaurant. His direct appeal
was also unsuccessful. Attorneys Phil Cherner,
Colleen Scissors, and Michael Heher did their
best in a complicated post-conviction attack
in Mr. Dunlap's case, but were unsuccessful
in the trial court. The case is now on appeal
to the Colorado Supreme Court, where Mr.
Cherner and Mr. Heher continue the fight
and have recently filed their opening brief.
If Mr. Dunlap is unsuccessful in State Court,
he still can seek relief in the Federal Courts.
Edward Montour represented himself and pled
guilty in 2003 for the murder of a correctional
officer. He continued to represent himself
in the penalty phase, presented no mitigation,
and was sentenced to death by Judge King
of the Douglas County District Court. Continuing
pro se Mr. Montour then waived any post-conviction
challenges and any appeal other than the
mandatory review of the propriety of his
sentence by the Colorado Supreme Court. Luckily,
the Supreme Court has now appointed counsel
for Mr. Montour both to appeal the propriety
of the death sentence as well as to address
the constitutionality of the portion of Colorado's
death penalty that provides only for judge,
rather than jury sentencing when an individual
pleads guilty.
Note: In April 2007, the Colorado Supreme
Court reversed the death sentence of Edward
Montour and remanded his case back to "the
trial court for a jury determination of
whether to impose the sentence of life
imprisonment or death." For the most
recent information, see CADP's Web page
for Edward
Montour.
