Colorado Politics: Colorado Republicans call on Polis to block police officer's killer from early-parole program
The four Republican members of Colorado's congressional delegation are calling on Gov. Jared Polis to prevent a man convicted of killing a Denver police officer in 2005 from joining a program that could lead to his early release.
Polis' office, however, said the governor has no role in the process and accused the GOP lawmakers of grandstanding around a "heinous crime."
In a letter dated March 21 led by U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, a former state lawmaker and Arvada police officer, Evans and U.S. Reps. Lauren Boebert, Jeff Crank and Jeff Hurd asked Polis to join them in urging the executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections to reject an application by Raul Gomez-Garcia to participate in a program that allows certain inmates to later apply for early parole for crimes committed when they were under the age of 21.
Gomez-Garcia was 19 when he shot and killed Donald "Donnie" Young, a 12-year veteran of the Denver Police Department, on Mother's Day weekend in 2005 after Young and his partner, fellow Denver police officer John "Jack" Bishop, ejected Gomez-Garcia from a baptismal party where they were providing security.
"Colorado elected officials, law enforcement groups, and the victim’s family have been united in opposing the killer’s application to this program," the Republican members of Congress said in their letter to Polis. They added that former Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, the Democrat who prosecuted Gomez-Garcia, also strongly opposes the convicted killer's admission to the program.
A spokeswoman for Polis told The Denver Gazette that the Republicans' demands were misguided.
“While there is no question that Mr. Gomez-Garcia committed a heinous crime, the governor has no role in determining whether someone does or does not apply for a particular program, as outlined in statute and the Department of Corrections’ Administrative Regulation," Shelby Wieman, the governor's press secretary, said in a written statement.
"It’s unfortunate that these members of Congress took the time to grandstand without taking the time to understand this program," Wieman added. "Governor Polis will work with anyone to improve public safety and keep dangerous criminals, including individuals who kill police officers, off the streets.”
Gomez-Garcia, a Mexican national who was in the country unlawfully at the time, returned after the off-duty officers threw him out of the party and shot both, though Bishop, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest, survived. The assailant shot Young three times, including once in the head, killing him.
Authorities later apprehended Gomez-Garcia in Mexico, where he fled to after the shootings, but his extradition was delayed for nearly two years until Denver prosecutors were able to assure the Mexican government that he wouldn't face charges for a capital crime or a life sentence without possibility of parole.
Upon his conviction at trial, the Denver judge sentenced Gomez-Garcia to the maximum 80 years in prison on second-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder charges for killing the 43-year-old Young and wounding his partner.
Gomez-Garcia recently applied for a program called Juveniles and Young Adults Convicted as Adults under a law that originally applied to people convicted of crimes committed when they were younger than 18 but was amended in 2021 to allow people who were under 21 when they committed their crimes to apply.
Under the law, participation in the program doesn't automatically lead to eligibility for early parole, according to state officials, who emphasized that even for those inmates who are admitted to the program and complete the required steps over the subsequent three years, the Colorado Parole Board and governor have the final say over any parole decisions.
The Republicans also urge Polis to work with state lawmakers to amend the law he signed that expanded the program to inmates who were between 18 and 21 when they committed the crimes that led to their sentences to exclude "illegal immigrants and individuals who have been convicted of murdering a law enforcement officer."
"The victims of crimes committed by these perpetrators deserve to be spared from the horror and trauma associated with these offenders potentially being released from prison early," the GOP lawmakers said.
As things stand, Gomez-Garcia is currently eligible for parole in 2053 with a mandatory release date in 2081.