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| Life in Prison Affirmed for Two Death Penalty Inmates |
| By TheDenverChannel.com |
| Published: 10/13/2003 |
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Two convicted Colorado murders will be sentenced to life in prison after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a February ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court throwing out their death penalty sentences. George Woldt and Francisco Martinez Jr. were both sentenced to death by lethal injection by separate three-judge panels, but the Colorado Supreme Court overturned the sentences on Feb. 24 and said they should instead be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The state Supreme Court ruled the sentences were unconstitutional, citing an earlier U.S. Supreme Court decision that said only juries, not judges, can determine whether a death penalty is justified. Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision and said he was upset by the outcome: "These two defendants abducted, tortured, raped and murdered two young women. We exhausted all reasonable efforts to see that they received the appropriate sentences for their crimes," said Salazar. "These heinous crimes committed by Woldt and Martinez deserve the ultimate sanction of law. While we are disappointed in the disposition announced on their death sentences, the outcome is that these individuals will be in prison for the rest of their lives without the possibility of parole." In the February ruling, the Colorado Supreme Court declared that at the time of the commission of their crimes Colorado's death penalty was unconstitutional on its face based upon the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling and that therefore, under Colorado's state law, life without parole was mandated. |
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