XPost: alt.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.liberalism, co.general   
   XPost: alt.politics.democrats, talk.politics.misc, sac.general   
   From: evading_justice@yahoo.com   
      
   DENVER, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Colorado Governor Jared Polis on Thursday   
   commuted the 110-year sentence of a truck driver convicted of   
   vehicular homicide, reducing the prison term to 10 years after   
   prosecutors went back to court this week in a rare move seeking   
   leniency.   
      
   In a commutation letter to the Cuban-born trucker, Rogel Lazaro   
   Aguilera-Mederos, 26, the governor said the fiery crash along a   
   mountain highway that killed four motorists in April 2019 was a   
   "tragic but unintentional act."   
      
   “While you are not blameless, your sentence is disproportionate   
   compared with many other inmates in our criminal justice system who   
   committed intentional, premeditated, or violent crimes,” the letter   
   said.   
      
   Aguilera-Mederos, whose case garnered national attention with nearly   
   5 million people signing an online petition calling for clemency,   
   will now be eligible for parole in five years, the governor said.   
      
   Defense lawyer James Colgan said his client was pleased with the   
   news. “He is relieved and very grateful,” Colgan said.   
      
   District Attorney Alexis King criticized Polis, saying the governor   
   essentially short-circuited a more deliberative judicial process   
   that prosecutors had begun in consultation with victims' families   
   and survivors.   
      
   "We are disappointed in the governor's decision to act prematurely,"   
   King said in a statement, adding that a final decision on Aguilera-   
   Mederos's fate should rest with a judge.   
      
   King went to court on Monday for a hearing requesting that the 110-   
   year prison term, imposed under mandatory sentencing rules earlier   
   this month, be reduced to the 20-to-30-year range, arguing that   
   leniency was warranted in the absence of any criminal intent.   
      
   Aguilera-Mederos was found guilty by a jury in October on four   
   homicide charges and multiple counts of assault and reckless   
   driving. District Court Judge Bruce Jones said when handing down the   
   original sentence on Dec. 13 that he would not have imposed such a   
   lengthy term but for mandatory minimum penalties required under   
   state law.   
      
   At trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Aguilera-Mederos, who   
   was hauling a load of lumber, was improperly trained in driving on   
   mountain roads.   
      
   He knew the brakes on his tractor-trailer were failing but descended   
   the mountains anyway, prosecutors said, bypassing a runaway truck   
   ramp and crashing into stopped traffic along Interstate 70 west of   
   Denver when he lost control of the vehicle.   
      
   Prosecutors never alleged that Aguilera-Mederos, who had no criminal   
   record, was impaired or had any criminal intent.   
      
   At sentencing, Aguilera-Mederos wept as he asked for forgiveness and   
   leniency. "I never thought about hurting anyone in my entire life,"   
   he said.   
      
   At Monday's hearing, Jones said it was virtually without precedent   
   for prosecutors, rather than defense attorneys, to seek a reduced   
   sentence in such a case. Jones ordered both sides to file briefs and   
   set another hearing for Jan. 13, a proceeding apparently rendered   
   moot by the governor's action.   
      
   Earlier this week, Colgan called King's motion to seek a reduced   
   sentence “disingenuous.”   
      
   "Two weeks ago, they (prosecutors) were perfectly fine with my   
   client getting 110 years until there was a public outcry,” he told   
   Reuters after the hearing. “It’s all political.”   
      
   The clemency granted by Polis was one of dozens of year-end   
   commutations and pardons announced on Thursday by the governor, a   
   first-term Democrat.   
      
   https://www.reuters.com/world/us/colorado-governor-lowers-110-year-   
   sentence-truck-driver-vehicular-homicide-case-2021-12-30/   
      
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