Republican-backed legislation that aimed to establish a mandatory cash bail for repeat or violent offenders met a swift end Wednesday at the hands of Democrats who rejected the measure in committee.

Senate Bill 41 would have set a mandatory minimum bond amount of $1,000 for people who are accused of committing a violent crime, who didn’t show up to court for a felony or a class 1 misdemeanor in the last five years or who are currently out on bond or have been convicted of a felony or a class 1 misdemeanor in recent years.

The Senate Judiciary Committee indefinitely postponed the bill in a 2-3 vote along party lines, with Democrats voting against the bill and Republicans support it.

“In the very near future, a violent criminal will be released back on the streets on a (personal recognizance) bond and someone will be seriously injured, killed or otherwise harmed,” said bill sponsor Sen. Rob Woodward, R-Loveland. “This bill presented us a chance to put a preventative measure in place.”

The Democratic opposition argued there is no data that suggests defendants released on personal recognizance bonds – which do not require any deposit or collateral – are less likely to reoffend or not show up to court compared to defendants released on cash bonds. There is also no state data available on how often defendants out on bond commit crimes, they added. 

“The entire premise of your bill is flawed and fallacious,” said Sen. Pete Lee, D-Colorado Springs. “It may feel good, it may sound good, but it’s not based on data.”

Besides just panel members, several legal organizations spoke against the bill Wednesday, arguing it would only affect the very poor and would take away discretionary power from judges and district attorneys when granting bonds.

The Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, Colorado Freedom Fund and Tribe Recovery Homes registered in opposition to the bill. The two organizations that registered support for the bill were the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University and Square State Strategy Group, a consulting firm.

“The bill guarantees incarceration for poverty without making us safer,” said Rebecca Wallace with the Colorado Freedom Fund. “When you set a mandatory minimum bond amount, anyone who can pay it gets out regardless of whether they’re likely to do harm to someone and anyone without money remains incarcerated.”

One family member of a crime victim urged the panel to pass the measure.

Last year, 80-year-old George Black was sitting on a bench outside of the Colorado State Capitol feeding pigeons when he was attacked and killed, seemingly at random, by Stephanie Martinez.

Martinez was out on a personal recognizance bond for assault charges when she repeatedly punched Black in the face, knocked him to the ground and beat him until she was pulled off by a bystander. Black later died of his injuries. John Stewardson, Black’s nephew, said he believes SB-41 could have prevented Martinez from getting out of custody and killing his uncle.

“My uncle was murdered by a person that shouldn’t have been out on bond,” Stewardson said. “The consequences of this crime are the families, not just my family, but the families that this happens to time and time and time again. I’m heartbroken over this. … What can we do to change the system? Because this is not working. My uncle is dead because of this.”

Woodward said he has been informed of other violent offenders in Colorado being released on personal recognizance bonds since last summer, including someone who stabbed a man in the back of the head, someone who attacked his roommate with a Samuri sword and someone who shot at a car, hitting an empty child car seat.

“The core of this bill is about protecting victims from violent crime,” Woodward said. “What this does is basically say, ‘You can’t be released on a pinky promise after committing some sort of horrendous, violent crime.”

Opponents said the remedy to stories of injustices regarding personal recognizance bonds is to evaluate the work of individual judges, not to change the whole system.

Woodward introduced a slew of amendments to the bill that would narrow the mandatory cash bond to specific crimes.

The amendments would have only applied the bill to aggravated motor theft with a deadly weapon, first-degree kidnapping, murder, mass murder or sexual assault on a child.

The amendments were voted down along party lines, with Democrats saying half of the specified crimes were unrelated to the sponsor and witness testimonies, while the other half were already covered under current law that states anyone charged with a capital offense is not entitled to bond.

“I’m getting the clear sense that this is more message than polemics,” said Lee, who later apologized for his statement, calling it “a moment of indiscretion” after seeing repeated amendments following “a lengthy discussion that the premise of the bill … is fallacious, flawed, unconstitutional, not based on stakeholders, not based on best evidences, practices or policies.”