BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — Boulder County is mourning the loss of Judge Kristy Martinez, the first director of CU's Korey Wise Innocence Project.
Innocence Project founder Ann England said Martinez laid the foundation for the program, which advocates for people who are in prison for crimes they did not commit.
"It didn't matter if you were someone showing up in her courtroom or someone who was an attorney there, or a friend," England said. "She just made you feel heard and listened to. She was an incredible shining star in the world, and I think we’re all feeling pretty sad about having lost her."
Martinez, who died of an unspecified illness, was a fierce advocate for anyone she loved.
Attorney General Phil Weiser said he had the privilege of hiring her when he was a dean at the University of Colorado Law School.
"Kristy Martinez made me a better dean of the law school because her deep caring and concern for others was infectious," he said. "It gave everybody a sense about what it means to be a lawyer to care about and fight for others."
Fight is what Martinez was good at. England said Martinez was a cancer survivor -- a piece of her past she never shied away from. In a speech at the 2019 CU Law School commencement ceremony, she thanked her colleagues for supporting her during her battles.
"I've been befriended at times in my life where I lie in a hospital bed and I didn't know if I would survive, and it was lawyers that started to walk down the hall to sit by my side," she said in 2019. "They came so many times that the flowers went all the way down the hallway."
England said after her initial cancer recovery, she continued to support others.
"She actually did a ton of work with other breast cancer survivors. For many years she went back to the hospital and worked with other people," England said. "She really lived life with purpose."
Martinez's friends said she left behind a big family, including her mother Sally and her daughter Bella. Funeral arrangements have yet to be released.
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