FW: CADP STATEMENT ON SENTENCING OF JAMES HOLMES TO LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE, August 7th, 2015
Dianne Tramutola-Lawson
From: Carla Turner [mailto:ca...@coadp.org]
Sent: Friday, August 07, 2015 9:02 PM
Subject: CADP STATEMENT ON SENTENCING OF JAMES HOLMES TO LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE, August 7th, 2015
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COLORADANS FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY STATEMENT ON THE HOLMES SENTENCE OF LWOP
Today, James Holmes received sentences of Life Without Parole for the murders of 12 people at a theater in Aurora three years ago. Two and a half years ago, James Holmes offered to plead guilty to those same murders and to accept a sentence of Life Without Parole.
There were no winners in that courtroom today. Instead of having this case resolved in exactly the same manner two and a half years ago, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office kept murder victim family members frozen in the worst moment of their lives, keeping them stuck in their anger and grief for the benefit of an attention-garnering death penalty case. For weeks, those murder victim family members have had to relive that worst moment and the worst moments that followed, keeping them traumatized so that their testimony would be as emotional as possible. For months, other people in court have also been steeped in that trauma and grief and pain and anger. All in pursuit of the death penalty against a man whom all the experts - - including the court-appointed experts - - agree was and is profoundly mentally ill and who would not have committed that horrendous crime if he hadn’t been psychotic, delusional and debilitated by that mental illness. The 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office knew all of that two and a half years ago, when a decision was made to turn down the plea and to instead fruitlessly & traumatically & expensively pursue the death penalty.
Yesterday, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office attempted to pass the unimaginable burden of a decision to take a human life or not to take that life over to 12 people who have been doing their civic duty and who have also been subjected to much secondary trauma through their service. Today someone - - at least one person - - on that jury declined to bestow death and chose life. At least one person understood that, in this day and age, the community can be kept safe by the imprisonment of people who have proven to be harmful to others. At least one person heard and comprehended the information provided by not just one but ALL the mental health professionals, confirming that this crime was the tragic result of a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder. At least one person knew that another death would not ever begin to make up for the loss of those 12 precious people, but would just inflict the same lifelong pain and grief on the Holmes family - - also innocent here - - that was inflicted on the murder victim family members.
Two and a half years ago, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office made the wrong decision, for murder victim family members and taxpayers and everyone else affected by this case. Today, the jury made the right decision by refusing to kill.
If you'd like to read more about the 18th Judicial District and how it compares to other JDs in Colorado in terms of the death penalty, here are two good sources:
WESTWORD ARTICLE by Alan Prendergast
If you'd like to end the death penalty in Colorado, please join the fight - - we need you.
DONATE to CADP. This email was sent from P.O. Box 46123 This email was sent to dia...@coloradocure.org. To unsubscribe from this newsletter, click here. |
217 E. 7th Ave.Denver, CO 80203 |
Kathleen Izor
To: "Kathie Izor" <everyo...@comcast.net>
Sent: Friday, August 7, 2015 9:02:03 PM
Subject: CADP STATEMENT ON SENTENCING OF JAMES HOLMES TO LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE, August 7th, 2015
|
COLORADANS FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY STATEMENT ON THE HOLMES SENTENCE OF LWOP
Today, James Holmes received sentences of Life Without Parole for the murders of 12 people at a theater in Aurora three years ago. Two and a half years ago, James Holmes offered to plead guilty to those same murders and to accept a sentence of Life Without Parole.
There were no winners in that courtroom today. Instead of having this case resolved in exactly the same manner two and a half years ago, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office kept murder victim family members frozen in the worst moment of their lives, keeping them stuck in their anger and grief for the benefit of an attention-garnering death penalty case. For weeks, those murder victim family members have had to relive that worst moment and the worst moments that followed, keeping them traumatized so that their testimony would be as emotional as possible. For months, other people in court have also been steeped in that trauma and grief and pain and anger. All in pursuit of the death penalty against a man whom all the experts - - including the court-appointed experts - - agree was and is profoundly mentally ill and who would not have committed that horrendous crime if he hadn’t been psychotic, delusional and debilitated by that mental illness. The 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office knew all of that two and a half years ago, when a decision was made to turn down the plea and to instead fruitlessly & traumatically & expensively pursue the death penalty.
Yesterday, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office attempted to pass the unimaginable burden of a decision to take a human life or not to take that life over to 12 people who have been doing their civic duty and who have also been subjected to much secondary trauma through their service. Today someone - - at least one person - - on that jury declined to bestow death and chose life. At least one person understood that, in this day and age, the community can be kept safe by the imprisonment of people who have proven to be harmful to others. At least one person heard and comprehended the information provided by not just one but ALL the mental health professionals, confirming that this crime was the tragic result of a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder. At least one person knew that another death would not ever begin to make up for the loss of those 12 precious people, but would just inflict the same lifelong pain and grief on the Holmes family - - also innocent here - - that was inflicted on the murder victim family members.
Two and a half years ago, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office made the wrong decision, for murder victim family members and taxpayers and everyone else affected by this case. Today, the jury made the right decision by refusing to kill.
If you'd like to read more about the 18th Judicial District and how it compares to other JDs in Colorado in terms of the death penalty, here are two good sources:
WESTWORD ARTICLE by Alan Prendergast
If you'd like to end the death penalty in Colorado, please join the fight - - we need you.
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DONATE to CADP.
This email was sent from P.O. Box 46123 |
This email was sent to everyo...@comcast.net. To unsubscribe from this newsletter, click here. |
217 E. 7th Ave.Denver, CO 80203 |
