Prosecutors asking to withdraw death penalty

Prosecutors on Monday filed a motion to withdraw the death penalty option against a 24-yearold man accused of killing an Adams County sheriff’s deputy in 2018.

Dave Young, 17th Judicial District Attorney, wrote in the motion that although Dreion Dearing is eligible to face the death penalty, Gov. Jared Polis’ decision to commute the sentences of the three men already on Colorado’s death row, coupled with the governor’s public opposition to the death penalty, made pursuing it fruitless.

“The People cannot overcome Governor Polis’ stated intent to forgo any death sentence with a stroke of his pen,” the motion reads. “Deputy Heath Gumm’s family and friends have been tremendously victimized due to the loss of their loved one in the line of duty. At this point, pursuing a death sentence in this case prolongs that victimization, knowing that the People have no reasonable likelihood of overcoming the Governor’s opinion on the death penalty.”

Colorado abolished the death penalty on March 23 but the repeal only applies to cases filed on or after July 1, so Young could have continued to seek the death penalty against Dearing, who is charged with killing Gumm during a chase.

Gumm’s family was “extremely frustrated” by the situation, according to the motion, which calls Polis a “thirteenth juror” who will refuse the death penalty no matter what the evidence or circumstances of the case.

“Consequently, regardless of the evidence supporting a reasonable likelihood of obtaining a death sentence from a jury of twelve in this case, Governor Polis has dictated the final sentence,” the motion reads. A spokeswoman for Young declined to comment on the motion.

Polis commuted the sentences of those already on death row to life without the possibility of parole. The governor’s office did not respond Monday night to a request for comment.

Dearing’s trial, which started in early March, was postponed last week due to concerns over the novel coronavirus, and will not restart until at least April 6. Hundreds of potential jurors had been called to serve — a larger pool than typically required for a nondeath penalty case.

The judge had not ruled on Young’s motion Monday evening.

If the motion is granted, only one person in the state will continue to face a death sentence — Marco Antonio Bravo Garcia, who is accused of killing two Colorado Springs high school students in 2017.

Experts have said pursing a death sentence in a state that has abolished the death penalty would be difficult.

“Everybody in the world knew that Mr. Dearing would never be executed … that was clear long ago,” said Michael Radelet, a University of Colorado professor who wrote a book on the history of the death penalty in Colorado and who previously testified as a defense witness in the Dearing case. He added he was surprised Young did not withdraw the death penalty sooner in Dearing’s case.

Colorado juries have been hesitant to hand out death sentences in recent years and declined to do so in 2015 for the Aurora theater shooter and a Denver man who stabbed five people to death at a bar.