Owens wants juries for<BR> death <BR> By Jon Sarche<BR> Associated Press Writer<BR> Wednesday, July 03, 2002 - 11:30 a.m. - With<BR> Colorado's death penalty law in question, Gov. Bill<BR> Owens and Attorney General Ken Salazar will ask<BR> lawmakers to revert to a previous system<BR> requiring a unanimous jury vote for the death<BR> penalty. <P> Both said today that the current law establishing<BR> three-judge panels to decide death penalty<BR> questions is constitutional and their decisions are<BR> valid. But Owens and Salazar said the jury system<BR> would be simpler and ensure legal certainty.<P> They hope their bipartisan support would smooth<BR> the way for approval during next week's special<BR> legislative session.<P> "That system will make sure it is beyond legal<BR> attack and make sure in the future these killers<BR> subject to the death penalty will not have any<BR> defense based on the infirmity of the law in<BR> Colorado," Salazar said.<P> The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 24 that juries,<BR> not judges, must decide whether convicted<BR> criminals should be sentenced to death.<P> Salazar said the court's ruling allows sentencing<BR> decisions to be made by judges as long as juries<BR> decide if aggravating factors were involved, such<BR> as kidnapping or the commission of other crimes.<P> Lawmakers adopted the three-judge system in<BR> 1995 based on a 1990 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.<BR> That was superseded by last month's ruling.<P> The ruling affects three inmates on death row in<BR> Colorado. All three have asked the state Supreme<BR> Court to send their cases back to the trial judge<BR> to have their sentences reduced to life in prison.<P> In a brief filed in response to one case, Salazar<BR> said the sentence should be upheld because the<BR> jury found there were aggravating factors.<P> He is preparing responses to the requests by the<BR> other two inmates, but said that the juries in<BR> those cases also found aggravating factors.<P> Salazar, a Democrat, said the unanimous-jury<BR> proposal would provide the most certainty for<BR> victims' families and for the courts.<P> Owens, a Republican, Salazar and the District<BR> Attorneys Council sent a letter Wednesday to<BR> chiefs of police and county sheriffs seeking their<BR> support.<P> Peter Weir, executive director of the District<BR> Attorneys Council, said there are death-penalty<BR> cases moving through the Arapahoe County and<BR> Denver district courts.<P> The three men awaiting execution after being<BR> sentenced by three-judge panels are Francisco<BR> Martinez, convicted in the 1997 rape and slaying<BR> of 14-year-old Brandy Duvall in Commerce City;<BR> William "Cody" Neal, convicted in the 1998 ax<BR> murders of three women in Jefferson County; and<BR> George Woldt, convicted in the 1997 rape and<BR> slaying of college student Jacine Gielinski in<BR> Colorado Springs.