Colorado Criminal Defense Bar

2012-2013 Board of Directors

Mary Claire Mulligan President Sean McDermott President Elect David Beller Treasurer Chris Decker Secretary
Douglas Bry Darren Cantor Phil Cherner Matt Connell Christopher Decker Kent Gray Greg Greer Marques Ivey Laurie Rose Kepros David Lindsey Maria Liu Kathy McGuire Hans Meyer Antony M. Noble Bonnie Stewart Kristan Wheeler

Liberty, Justice, Equality

955 Bannock Street, Suite 200 Denver, Colorado 80204 T: 303-758-2454 F: 303-623-0714

Governor John W. Hickenlooper 136 State Capitol Denver, CO 80203 May 8, 2013 Dear Governor Hickenlooper, As the President of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, I am writing to urge you on behalf of our board and our organization to commute Nathan Dunlaps sentence to life without the possibility of parole. When CCDB was founded over thirty years ago, it was organized to be unalterably opposed to the death penalty. That mission continues to this day. However, there are special features about Nathan Dunlap, his situation, and his case that mandate our most strenuous opposition to his execution. First, Nathan is mentally illa condition which is now being treated successfully but was not disclosed to the jury during his trial. While illness is not an excuse for his terrible crime, it is an explanation of it. Explaining why someone is brought to the point of committing a horrible act is the job of the criminal defense lawyer: presenting mitigation. Unfortunately for Nathan, the jury, and our community, this information was not introduced at his trial as a reason for the jury to grant mercy. As you probably know, if even one juror decides that he or she cannot vote for death, the default punishment is life without parole. Also as you know, three of the jurors from Nathans trial expressed their doubts about whether they would have voted for execution if they had known of Nathans mental illness. As such, your decision to commute this sentence would not usurp the power of the jury or of our criminal justice systemit would correct a twenty-year-old injustice. As criminal defense lawyers, we cannot stand idly by without making every effort to correct this mistake. Secondly, we have grave concerns about the disparities in seeking and obtaining the death penalty in Colorado. Nathan Dunlap and the two other young men on our death row are all African-American; a huge over-representation when African-Americans represent 4.3% of our state population. The racial disparities in the imposition of capital punishment in our nation are well-documented; here they are glaringly obvious. Nathan was only 19 at the time of the crime for which he was condemned. Im sure you are aware that as our knowledge about neurological development has advanced, scientists are positing that the brain does not fully develop until well into the twenties. This is one of the reasons the United States Supreme Court has made the execution of juveniles unconstitutional. Arapahoe Countyspecifically, south Aurorawas the location of the crimes for which all the men on our death row were condemned, and they were all prosecuted by the 18th Judicial District with the assistance of the Aurora Police Department. Unfortunately, terrible crimes occur throughout the state; it is an artifact of disproportionate treatment that only those prosecuted by Arapahoe County sit waiting for execution. Nathan Dunlap and the other two men on death row all went to the same high schoolOverland High. It strains credulity to believe that those we have deemed the three worst criminals in the state of Colorado coincidentally lived in the same neighborhood and were taught by the same teachers. To paraphrase Justice Stewart in Furman v. Georgia, that is cruel and unusual in the same way that being struck by lightning is cruel and unusual. We cannot seriously believe that the three young men on Colorados death row are the worst of the worst in our state when we now have before us compelling evidence that approximately 90% of the charged murders in Colorado are death-penalty eligible.

Dan Schoen Executive Director

Chapters
Adams County Jay Tiftickjian Arapahoe County Lisa Moses Andres Guevara Rob Werking Boulder County Ann England Nancy Salomone Joshua Maximon Colorado Springs Tracy Eubanks Douglas County Kevin Ellmann Durango County Brian Schowalter Katherine Whitney Fort Collins Jeffrey Schwartz Glenwood Springs Tina Fang Grand Junction Bert Nieslanik Jefferson County Maureen O'Brien Pueblo Adam Schultz Weld County Sean J. Lacefield

Colorado Criminal Defense Bar

Liberty, Justice, Equality

955 Bannock Street, Suite 200 Denver, Colorado 80204 T: 303-758-2454 F: 303-623-0714

As professionals we daily see what life in prison is like for our clients. Those who believe that inmates are coddled or given benefits are not familiar with the reality of our prison system. Life without parole is a very real and harsh punishment. Serving such a sentence would mean that Nathan Dunlap will never walk in a park, drive a car, or father a child. He will never decide for himself as long as he lives what he eats, what he wears, or when he will wake up. Your role in the criminal justice system is time-honored. The call from the governor has made its way into our literature and movies without describing the weight and agony such decisions must cost. Our system has set up a process that includes lawyers, judges, juries, and our elected governor. Any action you take will not usurp the judgment of any of those other parties; each has his or her own distinct role to fill. The governor has the authority and the duty to look beyond the limitations imposed by the legal systemthe duty to look at the person who is to be executed in the name of our citizens. You are the final decision-maker that can stop more death and grief. As such, we entreat you to commute Nathans sentence. Thank you for taking the time to consider our position and for giving Nathan your fullest attention. Sincerely,

Dan Schoen Executive Director Colorado Criminal Defense Bar