Colorado death row appeal denied, case linked to Owens

A Colorado death row inmate convicted of killing a witness to a shooting has lost his appeal in a related case, all stemming from a post-concert fracas that led to three deaths.

The state appeals court on Thursday rejected Robert Ray’s arguments that errors in his initial prosecution be given extra weight because that conviction became an aggravating factor in his subsequent capital trial.

Prosecutors say Ray was with Sir Mario Owens, also on death row, during a scuffle after the 2004 concert. Owens was convicted of murder in the shooting death of one of the concert’s organizers, and Ray of attempted murder.

In 2009, Ray was convicted and sentenced to death in the deaths of a witness to the concert shootings and of the fiance of the witness.