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Colo. may end death penalty to focus on cold cases
P. Soloman Banda - The Associated Press
Issue date: 5/4/09 Section: News
DENVER (AP) - Colorado is one of 10 states that have considered abolishing the death penalty this year to save money, but Colorado's proposal has a twist: It would use the savings to investigate about 1,400 unsolved slayings.
The measure has sparked fierce debate between prosecutors and some victims' families. Prosecutors want to keep capital punishment as an option for heinous crimes, and they say the bill has raised unrealistic hopes about solving cold cases.
Supporters of the bill say it's more important to find and prosecute killers still on the loose than to execute the ones already convicted.
"The death penalty is not relevant without a murderer brought to trial," said Laurie Wiedeman, the older sister of 17-year-old Gay Lynn Dixon, whose 1982 slaying remains unsolved. "I would like to see the person who killed my sister put to death. But to have that person free to run around and committing other crimes?"
Abolishing Colorado's death penalty would save an estimated $1 million a year that now is spent on prosecutors' time, public defenders' fees and appeals, according to a legislative analysis.
Supporters of the death penalty repeal measure want that money diverted to the Colorado Bureau of Investigations cold case unit, which has just one staffer. The extra money could add eight people to the unit, the legislative analysis said.
Proponents, led by Evergreen-based Families of Homicide Victims and Missing Persons, also say Colorado's death penalty is so rarely used that it's not a deterrent.
Colorado has executed only one person in the past 42 years, Gary Lee Davis, put to death in 1997 for his conviction in a 1986 slaying. Two men are currently on the state's death row.
The Colorado House narrowly passed the measure in late April, and the Senate is expected to vote before the session ends Wednesday.
Gov. Bill Ritter hasn't publicly said whether he would sign the bill if it passes. Before becoming governor, Ritter was Denver's district attorney and unsuccessfully sought capital punishment seven times. Before becoming district attorney in 1993, Ritter had expressed personal doubts about capital punishment.
The measure has sparked fierce debate between prosecutors and some victims' families. Prosecutors want to keep capital punishment as an option for heinous crimes, and they say the bill has raised unrealistic hopes about solving cold cases.
Supporters of the bill say it's more important to find and prosecute killers still on the loose than to execute the ones already convicted.
"The death penalty is not relevant without a murderer brought to trial," said Laurie Wiedeman, the older sister of 17-year-old Gay Lynn Dixon, whose 1982 slaying remains unsolved. "I would like to see the person who killed my sister put to death. But to have that person free to run around and committing other crimes?"
Abolishing Colorado's death penalty would save an estimated $1 million a year that now is spent on prosecutors' time, public defenders' fees and appeals, according to a legislative analysis.
Supporters of the death penalty repeal measure want that money diverted to the Colorado Bureau of Investigations cold case unit, which has just one staffer. The extra money could add eight people to the unit, the legislative analysis said.
Proponents, led by Evergreen-based Families of Homicide Victims and Missing Persons, also say Colorado's death penalty is so rarely used that it's not a deterrent.
Colorado has executed only one person in the past 42 years, Gary Lee Davis, put to death in 1997 for his conviction in a 1986 slaying. Two men are currently on the state's death row.
The Colorado House narrowly passed the measure in late April, and the Senate is expected to vote before the session ends Wednesday.
Gov. Bill Ritter hasn't publicly said whether he would sign the bill if it passes. Before becoming governor, Ritter was Denver's district attorney and unsuccessfully sought capital punishment seven times. Before becoming district attorney in 1993, Ritter had expressed personal doubts about capital punishment.
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