154C60902897B4ED872585120071D027 Hearing Summary

Representatives Arndt and Benavidez, co-prime sponsors, presented Senate Bill 20-100, which repeals the death penalty. The members of the committee were provided with a document from the ACLU of Colorado (Attachment A) and another from Mental Health Colorado (Attachment B).

Arlis Keller, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

Amy Plapp, representing herself, testified in support of the bill.

Tim Ricard, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

Terry Sullivan, representing herself, testified in opposition to the bill.

Sharletta Evans, representing herself, testified in support of the bill.

David Lane, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

Alex Perez, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

Jake Lily, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

The members of the witness panel responded to questions from the committee.

Ann Tomsic, representing the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office, testified in opposition to the bill.

Maisha Pollard, representing herself, testified in opposition to the bill.

The witnesses responded to questions from the committee.

John Ross, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

Marcus Weaver, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

Ezra Aldern, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

David Works, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

The panel of witnesses responded to questions from the committee.

Andrew O'Connor, representing himself, testified in opposition to the bill and provided his testimony in written form (Attachment C).

Beth McCann, Denver District Attorney, testified in support of the bill.

Jessica Dotter, representing the Boulder County District Attorney's Office, testified in support of the bill.

Bishop Jorge Rodriguez, representing the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver, testified in support of the bill.

Stan Garnett, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

The witnesses responded to questions from the committee.

The committee continued to discuss the bill with the panel of witnesses. The panel answered questions from the committee about victims.

Jared Hurst, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

Amelia Hecht, representing herself, testified in support of the bill.

Taylor Lewis, representing herself, testified in support of the bill.

Doug Wilson, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

Lindy Frolich, representing the Office of the Alternate Defense Council, testified in support of the bill.

Hollis Whitson, representing herself, testified in support of the bill.

The panel of witnesses responded to questions from the committee.

Reverend Brian Rossbert, representing the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado, testified in support of the bill.

Reverend Roland Halpern, representing the Colorado Council of Churches, testified in support of the bill.

Reverend Andrew Boesenecker, representing the Evangelical Lutheran Church, testified in support of the bill.

Lieutenant L. Hollis, representing the Equal Justice Initiative, testified in support of the bill.

Sam Kamin, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

Scott Phillips, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

Abigail Negley, representing the Arc of Colorado, testified in support of the bill.

Phil Cherner, representing Coloradans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, testified in support of the bill. He submitted three letters in support of repealing the death penalty (Attachment D).

The panel of witnesses responded to questions from the committee.

Nora Jacquez, representing herself, testified in support of the bill.

Barry Porter, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

Jonathan McMillan, representing My Brother's Keeper, testified in support of the bill.

Jean Fredlund, representing the League of Women Voters of Colorado, testified in support of the bill.

Several written statements were entered into the record (Attachment E).

The members of the committee were provided with amendments L.017 (Attachment F) and L.018 (Attachment G). Representative Benavidez asked for a title ruling on amendment L.017. Representative Weissman ruled that the amendment does not fit under the title of the bill.

The bill sponsors commented about amendment L.018.

The sponsors made closing comments and asked for a favorable recommendation.