proportionality review
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Appeals judge decries inability for defendant to challenge his ‘three-strikes’ sentence
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A member of Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday registered his discomfort with a defendant’s inability to challenge his lengthy prison sentence that was a product of the state’s “three strikes” law. Obdulio Arvelo is serving 48 years in prison for a 2011 theft-related conviction. The sentence resulted from Arvelo’s designation as a “habitual criminal,” meaning…
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Colorado Supreme Court confirms ‘3 strikes’ sentences not subject to challenge years afterward
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The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that defendants serving lengthy sentences under the state’s “three strikes” law, and whose convictions have been final for years or decades, do not have the opportunity to argue their punishments are excessive under current standards. Although Colorado’s Habitual Criminal Act has undergone changes since its enactment nearly a century ago,…
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Colorado justices skeptical of opening door to resentencing defendants under ‘3 strikes’ law
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Members of the Colorado Supreme Court gave an icy reception on Tuesday to the idea that defendants convicted decades ago and serving lengthy sentences under the state’s “three strikes” law should have the opportunity to argue their punishments are grossly disproportionate under current standards. Although Colorado’s Habitual Criminal Act has undergone changes since its enactment…
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Colorado Supreme Court to hear cases on ‘3 strikes’ law, Littleton family’s meth exposure
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The Colorado Supreme Court announced this month it will hear cases that could drastically broaden the relief available to people serving lengthy sentences under the state’s “three strikes” law and that would potentially reduce a multimillion-dollar award to two tenants who were poisoned by a downstairs meth operation. At least three of the court’s seven…
