The defense team for Nathan Dunlap, whose execution could take place some time in August, is scheduled to meet with Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and his staff on Friday, FOX31 Denver has confirmed.
Dunlap, who was convicted of murdering four people inside an Aurora Chuck E. Cheese back in 1994, is one of three people sitting on Colorado’s death row.
Hickenlooper is also scheduled to meet separately with District Attorney George Brauchler and prosecutors on the Dunlap case.
If Arapahoe District Judge William Sylvester sets an execution date at Wednesday afternoon’s hearing, as he’s expected to do, Hickenlooper will be facing increasing pressure to make a decision about whether or not to move forward with the execution.
In an exclusive interview last week, Hickenlooper told FOX31 that he’s conflicted about what to do on the looming execution and on the issue of the death penalty itself.
“I think it’s the toughest thing I’ve had to deal with,” Hickenlooper told FOX31 Denver.
Hickenlooper’s Chief of Staff Roxane White and General Counsel Jack Finlaw, who are leading the administration on the Dunlap case, both personally oppose the death penalty.
Former Corrections Chief Tom Clements, who was murdered in March by a paroled felon, Evan Ebel, also spoke passionately against the death penalty during a cabinet retreat last year, Hickenlooper told FOX31 Denver.
“My cabinet are about half and half,” Hickenlooper said. “Maybe about 60 percent oppose the death penalty, 40 percent support it.”
Defense attorney Dan Recht believes Hickenlooper may choose to commute the sentence.
“He is ambivalent about it now, and he’s being pushed by several people to commute the death penalty of Nathan Dunlap,” Recht said. “He may well do that.”
Last month, legislation to repeal the death penalty outright faltered at the Capitol after Hickenlooper told Democrats that he would consider vetoing it because he’s unsure the public would support it.
In 2011, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat, enacted a moratorium on state executions, unwilling to participate in what he called a “failed system” but stopping short of repealing the state’s death penalty outright.
Hickenlooper could be considering a similar path forward, although sources indicate that the Oregon model isn’t exactly applicable to Colorado because of differences in the death penalty statute.
http://kdvr.com/2013/05/01/hickenloo...m-prosecutors/
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