COLORADO, USA — In November voters in Colorado could decide if first-degree murder suspects should be eligible for bond.
This comes after a decision by the state’s highest court last year which said first-degree murder, a capital offense, must be granted a bond because lawmakers in 2020 abolished the death penalty, a capital punishment.
HRC24-1002 would put a measure on the November 2024 ballot to remove bail eligibility for people accused of this heinous crime and return things to how they were before the Colorado Supreme Court ruling.
No one during testimony in front of the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday opposed the idea.
A panel of district attorneys – Alexis King, Michael Allen, Travis Sides and Brian Mason – supported the resolution. They talked about the difficult conversations they are now having with the families of murder victims.
They said the question every family asks is, “Will the defendant get out of jail?" District attorneys argued these crimes deserve to be treated differently than other cases because they hold the penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Some were also concerned defendants could potentially try to flee if they were able to be released on bail.
A mother testified Wednesday about how she felt blindsided when prosecutors told her the man accused of killing her daughter would be granted bail.
Courtney Whitelaw's daughter, Riley, was killed at work in 2022. Joshua Johnson, Riley's co-worker, was found guilty of first-degree murder in October.
"The judge set bail at $10 million, a bond amount that matched the severe nature of the crime, but it still felt wrong that bail was even an option for this killer...no matter the amount," Whitelaw said.
Judges across the state are setting astronomically high bonds. Getting out of jail on a first-degree murder charge isn't cheap. But an Adams County man accused of shooting and killing one teen and hurting another after they stole his car was released on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
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