Gov. Jared Polis granted clemency to 24 folks in Colorado’s felony justice system Thursday, together with a former state trooper who pointed a gun at a motorist, the co-defendant in a case the place a prisoner was unintentionally launched early and a girl convicted of homicide.
He commuted the sentences of Michael Clifton, Sidney Cooley, Robin Farris and Sean Marshall to grant or permit for early parole.
Clifton is serving a 98-year sentence for costs associated to 2 1998 Aurora video retailer robberies. His co-defendant in that case, Rene Lima-Marin, was given the identical sentence however mistakenly launched a long time early. Lima-Marin was free for six years, throughout which period he married and stayed out of the felony justice system — till the court docket found its error and re-incarcerated him. He was pardoned in 2017 whereas Clifton remained in jail.
Clifton might be granted parole on Jan. 31. Lima-Marin known as Clifton’s imminent launch “great” and “superior.”
Marshall is serving a 45-year sentence for 4 counts of aggravated theft whereas in possession of an actual or simulated weapon. He will even be granted parole on Jan. 31.
Cooley is serving a 54-year sentence for costs that included drug possession, possession of a weapon by a earlier offender, trespassing, theft, housebreaking, and tried assault. He might be granted parole no sooner than Jan. 31, with the discharge relying on finishing his re-entry plan, in line with Polis’ information launch.
Farris is serving a life sentence with the opportunity of parole for a 1991 first-degree homicide conviction. Her commutation makes her parole eligible Jan. 31, or about seven years earlier than her estimated eligibility date. Polis’ letter notes that, if convicted as we speak, her costs would have resulted in a lesser sentence that will have made her eligible for parole a decade in the past. The small print of her case weren’t instantly obtainable Thursday evening.
His letter additionally notes she earned accreditation in counseling and mentored a whole bunch of ladies whereas in jail.
Polis granted former Colorado State Trooper Jay Hemphill a full commutation and pardon for misdemeanor menacing. In response to a 2021 arrest affidavit, Hemphill pointed a gun at a girl driving a truck whereas he was strolling throughout a road close to the Capitol. He was on responsibility however not in uniform on the time. He reported the incident to the State Patrol the identical day. He was initially charged with a felony.
He had served as a member of the State Patrol’s govt safety unit since 1998, which is tasked with defending the governor and his household, the governor’s mansion, and the state Capitol. In 2007, he intercepted an armed man on the workplace of then-Gov. Invoice Ritter. When the person produced a gun, Hemphill killed him, in line with an outline of the occasion by state patrol.
In his clemency letter, Polis says Hemphill “made a mistake in a short prompt if you thought you have been underneath risk, and nobody was bodily harmed.”
“This error shouldn’t outline your profession or detract out of your act of heroism in defending Governor Invoice Ritter from a gunman,” Polis wrote. “I hope this commutation and pardon open doorways to new alternatives for you.”
Polis additionally granted full and unconditional pardons to Vicente Antillon, Marla Bautista, Jay Biesemeier, Wendy Biesemeier, William Bray, Joseph Burns, Daniel Collins, Carey Davidson, Samuel DeBono, Caleb Haley, Mark Harmon, Walter Hooton, Charles Hurlburt, Inform Jones, John Krause, Terrence Miller, Steven Thomas, Staci Tillman, and Ryan Tomka.
All had accomplished their sentences for convictions that, apart from one, have been all greater than 20 years previous, and one so far as again as 1963. 9 of the convictions have been instantly drug associated, and a lot of the others have been associated to theft or housebreaking.
The pardons grant all of them full rights of citizenship, together with voting, jury responsibility, holding public workplace and firearm possession.
Denver Submit reporter Sam Tabachnik contributed to this report.