Colorado's Shrinking Death Row
-- By Randy Canney
Thanks to some significant court victories,
Colorado's death row is substantially smaller
than it recently was.
Just in the past few months, three of the six
inmates on Colorado's death row have had their
death sentences vacated. A fourth reversal is
expected.
Death sentences of two inmates, Francisco Martinez
and George Woldt, were vacated in
February by the Colorado Supreme Court, following
the US Supreme Court's decision in
Ring v. Arizona.
Last summer, the US Supreme Court declared in
Ring that death penalty defendants were entitled
to sentencing by a jury. This decision effectively
invalidated Colorado's death sentencing scheme,
in which a three-judge panel decided the sentence
following a jury's guilty verdict.
Colorado's three-judge sentencing scheme emerged
in 1995 after the Legislature and various District
Attorneys became dissatisfied that Colorado juries
were not returning enough death sentences. However,
after even three-judge panels refused to return
death verdicts in certain cases, some legislators
further pressed for single-judge sentencing,
but were unsuccessful in their efforts.
Three Colorado death row inmates received death
sentences from three judge panels. Mr. Martinez
and Mr. Woldt were convicted by juries and then
sentenced by the three-judge panel.
A third man, William "Cody" Neal,
proceeded pro se, pled guilty, and was then sentenced
to death by a panel of three judges. Mr. Neal's
death sentence will likely be vacated as well,
since although he did plead guilty, he also filed
motions attacking the three-judge sentencing
scheme.
Although Colorado's Attorney General, Ken Salazar,
has sought review by the US Supreme Court of
the Martinez and Woldt decisions, it is extremely
unlikely that Colorado's Supreme Court will be
reversed, since the Colorado court was following
precedent set in Ring.
In another recent victory, Adams County District
Court Judge Jess Vigil vacated the death sentence
of Robert Harlan because certain jurors brought
a Bible into the jury room and had used it in
their deliberations and attempts to convince
other jurors to impose death. It is a clear rule
of law that jurors are not allowed to bring such
materials into the jury room, and previous cases
have held that convictions were invalid when
jurors brought items such as dictionaries into
deliberations. This victory remains subject to
appeal by the prosecution.
In addition to William Neal, Nathan Dunlap and
Edward Montour remain on Colorado's death row.
Post-conviction review proceedings are ongoing
in Mr. Dunlap's case in the Arapahoe County District
Court.
Mr. Montour is the most recent addition to death
row. After proceeding pro se, he pled guilty
to murdering a prison guard and received a death
sentence in Douglas County. He presented no mitigation
at his sentencing hearing, and was sentenced
to death by Douglas County District Court Judge
Paul King.
Although Mr. Montour would have been entitled
to jury sentencing under Colorado's newest statutory
scheme had he proceeded to trial, the statute
provides for only single judge sentencing for
an individual who pleads guilty. Mr. Montour's
case will now be reviewed by the Colorado Supreme
Court. Although he continues to represent himself,
it appears that he will challenge Colorado's
latest death penalty statutory scheme.
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.
