DENVER (CN) — In a rare unanimous vote in the Colorado Senate on Thursday, lawmakers sent voters a resolution seeking to amend the state constitution and close a loophole requiring bail to be offered to all criminal defendants — even those charged with first-degree murder.
“This is a fix the Colorado Supreme Court has asked us to make,” said Senator Rhonda Fields, a Democrat from Adams County and a bill sponsor.
Last June, the Colorado Supreme Court confirmed that courts may only deny bail to individuals when "presumption is great that a capital offense has been committed." Since Colorado lawmakers repealed the death penalty in 2020, all defendants must be given the opportunity to post bond.
This includes a man facing 10 counts of first-degree murder for killing 10 seemingly random people at a Boulder grocery store on March 22, 2021. Although that defendant has not posted bail so far, a Boulder judge still had to offer him release. She did so reluctantly, offering the shooter a hefty $100 million bond.
Lawmakers estimate about 500 other first-degree murder cases have been impacted by the loophole. Resolution HCR24-1002, or the “Constitutional Bail Exception First Degree Murder,” will ask voters to amend the state constitution to create an “exception to the right to bail for cases of murder in the first degree when proof is evident or presumption is great.”
In a related vein, HB24-1225, or the “First Degree Murder Bail & Jury Selection Statute," would give first-degree murder defendants the same number of peremptory juror challenges that were available in capital cases.
Both bills have bipartisan support and sponsorship in both chambers, including from House Majority Leader Monica Duran, a Democrat from Jefferson County, and Representative Mike Lynch, a Republican from Weld County. Senator Fields and Senator Bob Gardener, a Republican from El Paso County, are sponsoring the bills in the state Senate.
Fields and Gardener both asked the Senate to return unanimous votes — even though only two-thirds were required to move the measures forward.
The proposals sailed through both chambers with little debate. Before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, just two people signed up to speak in support.
David Frost told lawmakers about losing his 34-year-old daughter Amber on December 31, 2022. Amber Frost had loved the Princess Bride and her six children, according to her obituary.
“Her accused murderer was held without bond on first-degree murder charges, and we were assured at that time that he would not get out of jail unless proven innocent by a court of law,” Frost told lawmakers. “While we were still hurting over Amber’s death and angry and filled with emotion, the situation was made even worse by an offer of bond for her accused murderer after just a couple of months.”
Frost assured lawmakers that closing the bail loophole would protect defendants as well as victims’ families.
“I am by nature a very passive person, but that changed after Amber’s death, and I felt compelled to act violently against him,” Frost recalled. “If he wasn’t in custody, I’m not so sure I could have been passive in that situation.”
Frost is a member of the advocacy organization Colorado Victims for Justice. Other members wrote letters and called legislators in support of the bill.
Organization chair Debi Hunter Holen was initially speechless when asked to comment on the bail measures' passage.
“Some people should not be able to be released. They should stay where they are to keep from harming someone else,” Hunter Holen told Courthouse News. “It's not to punish them. It's to keep everyone safe — and to keep themselves safe.”
The group is also backing a resolution asking voters to extend the statute of limitations for victims of child sex abuse to bring claims, after the state Supreme Court in 2023 unanimously overturned a so-called lookback law giving those victims more time to sue.
Amending the Colorado Constitution requires support from 55% of voters.
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