Colorado lawmakers introduce bill to prevent accused murderers from bonding out of jail
COLORADO (KRDO) -- Colorado lawmakers just introduced a bill that could deny first degree murder suspects the right to post bail. Ultimately, it would be up to Colorado voters who could see the question pop up on their November ballots.
Right now, suspects charged with first degree murder are guaranteed the ability to bond out of jail because of a Supreme Court ruling last summer.
In 2020, Colorado abolished the death penalty. In 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that because the death penalty was repealed, a person charged with murder cannot be held in jail without bond.
In an interview with KRDO13 immediately following that ruling, 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen discussed how that impacts the legal system.
"Now people that are committing the most heinous offenses in a community, whereas we had been able to hold them without bond, meaning they were going to stay in jail till the case was tried to a jury, are now going to have the chance to bond out of jail and be out in the community again," said Allen.
Wednesday, Allen testified in front of a House Judiciary Committee in support of HB24-1225.
The bill aims to amend the Colorado Constitution, allowing judges to once again withhold the right to bail but only for "murder in the first degree when proof is evident or presumption is great."
On the phone Thursday, Allen told KRDO13 there have not been any first degree murder suspects that have bailed out in El Paso County, but he worries that it is not a matter of "if" but "when."
Courtney Whitelaw, the mother of 17-year-old Riley Whitelaw who was murdered in a Colorado Springs Walgreens in the summer of 2022, also testified Wednesday.
"The judge set bail at 10 million dollars," said Whitelaw, "a bond amount that matched the severe nature of the crime, but it still felt wrong that bail was even an option for this killer no matter the amount."
Allen told KRDO13 if the bill was passed into law by Colorado voters, bond would be withheld from murder suspects facing strong, overwhelming evidence they did commit to crime.
He said the Club Q mass shooter, who pleaded guilty to murdering five people, and Letecia Stauch, found guilty of murdering her stepson Gannon, are examples of people who would meet the criteria for great presumption.
KRDO13 tried to find people who would voice opposition to the bill but could not.
Below is a statement from the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar on HB24-1225:
"The Colorado Criminal Defense Bar supports HB24-1225, a necessary measure to amend the state constitution to restore important procedures in first degree murder cases. Prior to People v. Smith, people held on suspicion of first-degree murder were not entitled to bail if the proof of their guilt was evident or the presumption they would be convicted at trial was great. The judge held hearings to make these findings and either set bail or denied bail being set while the case was pending.
Since People v. Smith was decided, the language in our state constitution regarding these hearings was invalidated, so judges have been required to set bail in first degree murder cases. Few people have been released on the unusually high bail that has been set in these cases, and an important tool for judging the strength of the evidence before trial has been lost.
HB24-1225 will help restore the original procedure, as well as proof evident presumption great hearings and jury selection processes, for those accused of first-degree murder in Colorado state courts. The measure will not change anything about how these cases were handled until recently. "
Statement of Tristan Gorman, Policy Director, Colorado Criminal Defense Bar
