Capital Punishment Colorado

The Colorado Supreme Court found that state's capital punishment statute to be unconstitutional. The law constitutes cruel and unusual punishment because it "mandates imposition of the death penalty when the jury decides that aggravating and mitigating factors (for and against the defendant) are equally balanced," the court said in Denver. The 4-3 decision stemmed from appeals in a Denver murder case.

It has been nearly 30 years since the people of Colorado put a man to death--three decades in which this state has stubbornly refused to join the growing parade of legal executions being carried out across the United States. So long, in fact, that the last time a prosecutor persuaded a jury to put a man on death row, she practically had to beg. "If not now, when?" Eva Wilson pleaded before a jury deciding the fate of a 21-year-old convicted of killing four people at a pizza parlor.

It has been nearly 30 years since the people of Colorado put a man to death--three decades in which this state has stubbornly refused to join the growing parade of legal executions being carried out across the United States. So long, in fact, that the last time a prosecutor persuaded a jury to put a man on death row, she practically had to beg. "If not now, when?" Eva Wilson pleaded before a jury deciding the fate of a 21-year-old convicted of killing four people at a pizza parlor.

The Colorado Supreme Court found that state's capital punishment statute to be unconstitutional. The law constitutes cruel and unusual punishment because it "mandates imposition of the death penalty when the jury decides that aggravating and mitigating factors (for and against the defendant) are equally balanced," the court said in Denver. The 4-3 decision stemmed from appeals in a Denver murder case.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. - Prosecutors are expected to announce Monday whether they will seek the death penalty in the Aurora movie theater massacre - a decision that could affect not only the defendant, James E. Holmes, but also capital punishment in Colorado. As the critical decision loomed, the defense and prosecution were scrambling to win the upper hand - in the world of public opinion, if not the courtroom - in an escalating war of words. Holmes, 25, a former neuroscience student, is accused of opening fire in a packed premiere showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" on July 20, killing 12 people and injuring about 70 others.