LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: PROTECTING VICTIMS VS. WEAKENING ACCOUNTABILITY
I’m proud to report that my bill, HB26-1290: Felony Strangulation, passed the House 62 to 0. Strangulation is one of the strongest warning signs for future homicide. In fact, a victim is 750% more likely to be killed by the perpetrator after a strangulation incident. For too long, victims have lacked confidence that offenders would be held accountable. This bill changes that by increasing felony charges for strangulation and will bring justice to families. I pushed for harsher punishment for the first conviction, but I could not get that part passed. It took two legislative sessions to get this bill across the finish line, but real protection for victims has been delivered. The punishment has been significantly increased to a Second-Degree Felony and mandatory prison sentence.
However, in sharp contrast, progressives sponsored HB26-1281 Homicide Criminal Offenses, which goes in the opposite direction by decreasing felony charges for murder and extreme indifference. Several Democrats and every District Attorney is against it. This bill treats victims as an afterthought. It favors criminals and places victims in second place. (Read a Fox 31 article here, or a Rock Mountain Voice Article here)
Current Colorado statute does not require that more than one person be endangered for an extreme-indifference conviction. This horrible piece of legislation would declare that the drive by shooting, the indiscriminate spray of bullets into crowds, and school shootings now belong in a lower class of murder.
HB26-1281 would narrow first-degree murder charges to only when:
- More than one person is killed
- The victim is under 12
- The victim is an on-duty first responder
- One death occurs alongside serious injury to at least two others with a deadly weapon
That means that crimes like drive-by shootings, random shootings into homes or vehicles, and gunfire into crowded areas would not be considered a first-degree charge.
Here is a real-life example of a case under this law if the same shooter sprayed shots into a house:
A 12 year old dies, and her two older sisters suffer serious bodily injury. Result: First-degree murder with life without parole.
A 12 year old dies, and only one older sister suffers serious bodily injury. Result: Second-degree murder with earned time and eligibility for parole.
This bill is saying your occupation determines the intent of the killer, or the age of your child being under 12 versus 13 or older. Tell that to the families.
Every single District Attorney in Colorado is unanimously against this bill. 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen stated: “It really devalues the value of human life… to get to a higher sentencing range you have to kill more than one person. If someone is just a bad aim… and they only kill one person… that drops that down.”
The bill sponsors have argued: “People should be punished based on what they actually did, not what could have happened.” What do we say to families who lost a loved one, that it “wasn’t enough” for the highest charge? Or that the murderer needed to take two lives to qualify for first-degree murder?
The bill also changes prosecution standards for individuals who have had two prior DUI or impaired driving convictions or have been previously convicted of vehicular homicide or vehicular assault. This is less accountability of criminals and is the wrong direction. It places criminals concerns ahead of the devastation of victims and their families. I will continue to fight this bill at every opportunity.