Prosecutors slam Colorado trucker’s reduced prison sentence

DENVER | The reduction of a 110-yr prison sentence to 10 years by Colorado’s governor for a trucker convicted of killing four people in a fiery interstate crash is hurting prosecutors’ efforts to negotiate sentences in other situations, in accordance to two district lawyers.

The Dec. 30 commutation by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis for the trucker was “unprecedented, premature and unwarranted” because Rogel Aguilera-Mederos’ circumstance was continue to active, with a choose scheduled to evaluation a prosecutor’s request to lower the sentence, claimed Boulder County District Legal professional Michael Dougherty and Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein.

Dougherty is a Democrat and Rubinstein is a Republican and each advised Polis in a Jan. 20 letter that his final decision “is having a substantial ripple effect” on other scenarios, The Denver Put up documented on Wednesday. The Submit attained the letter by means of an open documents ask for.

“Sentences should be motivated by the details and instances, not by petitions, online surveys or tweets,” they said, referring to a nationwide campaign to lower Aguilera-Mederos’ sentence prior to Polis’ final decision.

Dougherty and Rubinstein mentioned that the decision afflicted prosecutors’ efforts to attain an 8-12 months sentence in a modern Boulder County sexual assault circumstance, indicating the defendant’s lawyer objected that 8 yrs was extreme in mild of Aguilera-Mederos’ 10-12 months term.

Dougherty explained to The Article that he and Rubinstein met with Polis after they despatched the letter and that the prosecutors “are optimistic that our issues were being recognized and that what took place in that scenario was an exception.”

Polis spokesman Conor Cahill said the governor minimized the trucker’s sentence since “there was plainly an urgency to treatment this sentence and restore self confidence in the uniformity and fairness of our felony justice method.”

Polis’ shift came days immediately after a judge scheduled a January hearing to reconsider the sentence at the ask for of the regional district attorney, Alexis King, who had prepared to question that it be reduced to 20 to 30 years.

About 5 million persons signed an on-line petition searching for clemency for Aguilera-Mederos, who was convicted of vehicular homicide and other rates in the explosive 2019 pileup.

Aguilera-Mederos testified that he was hauling lumber when the brakes on his semitrailer failed as he was descending a steep quality of Interstate 70 in the Rocky Mountain foothills.

His truck plowed into motor vehicles that had slowed mainly because of a further wreck, setting off a chain-reaction crash and a fireball that consumed autos and melted parts of the highway.

Choose Bruce Jones imposed the 110-12 months sentence on Dec. 13 right after getting it was the necessary minimal phrase set forth less than point out law, noting it would not have been his decision.