Blog

By: Jeralyn Merritt

Category: Panorama

Posted: February 7, 2007 11:30 PM

Tags: Crime

Colorado Bill to Abolish Death Penaly Advances

A bill to abolish the death penalty in Colorado passed out of committee Wednesday. We reported on the bill here. Death penalty case now cost Colorado $3.8 million annually, according to a January 2003 report by former Attorney General Ken Salazar. Under the proposed law, sponsored by Rep. Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville, the savings would be used to solve cold cases.

Weissman says 1,200 killings have gone unsolved in Colorado since 1970. At the same time, he says millions have been spent prosecuting and defending death penalty cases. "We hardly ever use the death penalty in the state; we put one murder, if you believe in the death penalty, above another one," said Weisman. "You make district attorneys really pick and choose which cases they want to prosecute at the death penalty."

Life without the possibility of parole is cheaper than the death penalty and protects the public. I hope this bill becomes law. Thanks to Think Outside the Cage, a new Colorado blog dedicated to criminal justice reform, for alerting me to the development.

Comments

Let me get this straight. Peterson and Rogers sent an innocent man to prison for 12 years, and they are suing HIM for emotional distress?! Shouldn't it be the other way around?

DA Bill Peterson Suing The Innocent Man Dennis Fritz For Emotional Distress Dennis Fritz, who wrote the book, "Journey Toward Justice", is named as a defendant in a libel lawsuit along with , John Grisham, author of "The Innocent Man", Robert Mayer, author of "The Dreams of Ada", and all their publishers, and New York City attorney Barry Scheck, Fritz's former lawyer who once represented Fritz and is co-director of The Innocence Project. With the aid of Barry Scheck and irrefutable DNA evidence, Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson were exonerated in 1999. Pontotoc County District Attorney Bill Peterson and Gary Rogers, a former agent for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation filed the libel lawsuit. The lawsuit, seeks at least $75,000 compensation and demands a jury trial. Peterson and Rogers were instrumental in the conviction of Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz in the murder of Debbie Sue Carter in Ada, Oklahoma in 1982. The conviction was later overturned on DNA evidence pursued by the Innocence Project, which Scheck heads, Dennis Fritz was wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit and spent 12 years in prison. Part of the lawsuit claims the defendants conspired to commit libel against the plaintiffs, generate publicity for self interest by placing them in a false light and intentionally inflicting emotional distress upon them. So... Prosecutor with the help of Gary Rogers sent 2 innocent men, Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson to prison for 12 years. Both Innocent men freed by DNA evaluation of crime scene evidence. Innocent man, Dennis Fritz writes book about his experiences. Prosecutor and Gary Rogers sue the innocent man they wrongfully sent to prison and Prosecutor and Rogers sue for intentionally inflicting emotional distress upon them.

A Book Recommendation "Journey Toward Justice" This is the Companion book to The Innocent Man, Journey Toward Justice by Dennis Fritz changed my mind about the Death Penalty. True Crime, Murder and Injustice in a Small Town. Journey Toward Justice is a testimony to the Triumph of the human Spirit and is a Memoir. Dennis Fritz was wrongfully convicted of rape and murder after a swift trail. The only thing that saved him from the Death Penalty was a lone vote from a juror. Dennis Fritz was the other Innocent man mentioned in John Grisham's Book. which mainly is about Ronnie Williamson, Dennis Fritz's co-defendant. Both were exonerated after spending 12 years in prison. The real killer was one of the Prosecution's Key Witness. Read about why he went on a special diet of his while in prison, amazing and shocking. Dennis Fritz's Story of unwarranted prosecution and wrongful conviction needs to be heard. Look for his book in book stores or at Amazon.com , Journey Toward Justice by Dennis Fritz, Publisher Seven Locks Press 2006. . Read about how he wrote hundreds of letters and appellate briefs in his own defense and immersed himself in an intense study of law. He was a school teacher and a ordinary man whose wife was brutally murdered in 1975 by a deranged 17 year old neighbor. On May 8th 1987, Five years after Debbie Sue Carter's rape and murder he was home with his young daughter and put under arrest, handcuffed and on his way to jail on charges of rape and murder. After 10 years in prison he discovered The Innocence Project, a non-profit legal organization. With the aid of Barry Scheck and DNA evidence Dennis Fritz was exonerated on April 15,1999 Since then, it has been a long hard road filled with twist and turns and now on his Journey Toward Justice. He never blamed the Lord and solely relied on his faith in God to make it through. He waited for God's time and never gave up.

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