Colorado abolishes sentences of death

Colorado abolished its seldom-used death penalty Monday, joining a growing number of states that have eschewed capital punishment as a deterrent to the most serious crimes.

Gov. Jared S. Polis, a Democrat, signed the repeal into law after it had reached his desk from the state Legislature. It had passed the Senate in January and the House in February after several failed attempts to end capital punishment in the state.

Colorado had executed just one person since reinstating the death penalty in the mid1970s: Gary Davis, who had been convicted of the rape and murder of Virginia May, was given a lethal injection in 1997.

On Monday, Polis also commuted the sentences of three men on death row — Robert Ray, Sir Mario Owens and Nathan Dunlap — to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He said in a statement that he wanted the law to be applied consistently.

“Commutations are typically granted to reflect evidence of extraordinary change in the offender,” Polis said, noting that this was not the reason he was commuting the three sentences.

“Rather, the commutations of these despicable and guilty individuals are consistent with the abolition of the death penalty in the state of Colorado,” he said, “and consistent with the recognition that the death penalty cannot be, and never has been, administered equitably in the state of Colorado.”

Colorado joined 21 other states that have repealed the death penalty, according to the advocacy group Equal Justice USA, which had campaigned for the end of capital punishment in the state. The organization mounted similar efforts in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and Illinois, which have all abolished the death penalty.

Shari Silberstein, the group’s executive director, said in a statement that it was a proud moment for Colorado.

“With Gov. Polis’ signature, the state liberated itself from one of the most glaring failures of the legal system and is charting a new path toward justice,” she said. “Instead of wasting millions of dollars every year, the state can focus on the healing that survivors of violence need while also working toward making families and communities safe by preventing future violence.”

George Brauchler, a Republican district attorney in Colorado, criticized the repeal in a statement Monday.