34 accused murderers in El Paso Co. eligible for bond and release after Colorado Supreme Court ruling

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- A recent Colorado Supreme Court ruling has the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office sounding the alarm on the potential ramifications to public safety. Those charged with first-degree murder in Colorado are now eligible for bond, and potential pre-trial release.

According to the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office, representing El Paso and Teller counties, this ruling impacts 34 cases they are currently prosecuting. A spokesperson said that number is likely to be higher in the coming weeks as law enforcement agencies work to make arrests in multiple homicide cases.

This ruling came down on June 20, stemming from Colorado v. Smith, a defendant who was previously charged with first-degree murder and was held on no bond. That decision in every criminal 1st-degree murder case is made by the judge presiding over the case. However, Smith's attorneys argued, and the seven justices agreed, that the trial court "abused its discretion" by denying Smith bail.

In the Supreme Court's opinion, they argued that because 1st-degree murder is considered a "capital offense," and capital offenses can be punished by the death penalty, state judges cannot deny someone accused of murder the right to post bond.

In Colorado, this ruling is centered around state lawmakers' decision to abolish the death penalty back in 2020. It's that decision by the state legislature that El Paso County DA Michael Allen believes was short-sighted on this exact issue.

"I think it's a travesty and something that was certainly contemplated at the time that the death penalty was being talked about, being abolished and yet ignored and not really looked at as a ramification," Allen said. "It will have a detrimental impact, I think, on public safety. We will have people that are charged with first-degree murder and get out of custody on bond as a result of this opinion."

13 Investigates analyzed multiple cases that this ruling impacts.

First is the case involving a man accused of fatally stabbing his teen Walgreens coworker Riley Whitelaw to death and leaving her bloodied body at the store in June 2022. Accused killer Joshua Johnson has a hearing Friday where the bond will likely be addressed. It's unclear how high of a bond a judge will set in this case.

Typically, if granted before this ruling, the bond would be more than $1 million.

In Pueblo, Nicholas Tumblin, who was on parole at the time he was accused of murdering two people and nearly killing another person in a bar shooting, was just recently granted two $1 million bonds by a Pueblo County Judge on the two 1st-degree murder charges.

Pueblo County District Attorney Jeff Chostner said this case is just one impacted by the Supreme Court's ruling, which he said: "causes us a lot of concerns."

"We think that the law that was overturned, or as it was interpreted, was a legitimate one. We think that the interpretation of this law by the Supreme Court is one that's going to cause us and the public concerns as to the safety of the community," Chostner said.

DA Allen told 13 Investigates that 1st-degree murder cases are exactly the types of crimes that people would want to run from while out on bond.

"These are dangerous people who are not afraid to carry out violence against others, including people that are apprehending them and will be back out on the street. Potentially, if the bond is low enough," Allen said.

When asked how this could potentially be changed amid public safety concerns Allen said it can only be amended by making further changes to state law.

"The only way to change that is to do some statutory change in the future that says these types of cases potentially can be held without bond if certain conditions are met, similar to what we had in place before," Allen explained.

When asked if he thinks there is any "buy-in" whatsoever from legislators to do that, Allen said, "Probably not."

Still - Allen is calling on state lawmakers to study this and its negative impact on public safety.

The next legislative session reconvenes in January 2024.