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Denver DA launches conviction review unit

By Julia Cardi June 8, 2022 | updated 3 years ago

To ensure fairness in its work and build public trust in the justice system, the Denver District Attorney’s Office has officially launched a conviction review unit. 

“If the wrong person is convicted, the only beneficiary of that situation is the true offender,” District Attorney Beth McCann said in a news conference Wednesday.  

McCann said for a case to be considered for review by the new unit, there has to be a substantial basis to believe there is credible evidence of the person’s innocence. 

The unit will also review clemency applications from the governor’s office and some sentences that may not be compatible with current law or standards of fairness. McCann said the number of clemency applications has increased recently, and while she couldn’t say for sure why, she suggested the high-profile sentence reduction last year for Rogel Aguilera-Mederos from 110 years to 10 by Gov. Jared Polis may have contributed.

Truck driver sentenced to 110 years in prison for deadly crash gets 100-year reprieve
 Deputy district attorney Victoria Cisneros will lead the unit, which will also include an investigator and interns. It currently has a budget of about $220,000. 

“Our duty as prosecutors to seek fairness and justice does not end at sentencing,” she said.  

Around the metro area, the 1st, 18th and 20th Judicial Districts have their own conviction review units.  

Cisneros said a plausible claim of innocence for conviction reviews is important to minimize false hope for defendants and retraumatization of victims. The reviews will be confidential while they’re in process. 

Waiting to review a case until a defendant has run through their appeals isn’t a specific criteria of the unit, but McCann said she expects the unit likely won’t interfere in ongoing appeals.  

For sentence reviews, a case has to meet one of the following criteria: 

  • The person has served more than 10 years and is over 50 

  • They have served more than 15 years and are older than 35 

  • They are serving a sentence for a habitual count not for a crime of violence 

  • The person has a serious medical condition or is terminally ill 

“I have full confidence in the prosecutors in this office. But sometimes evidence is discovered later, or something comes up that we didn’t know about,” McCann said. 

Denver DA study finds differences in outcomes of cases based on race and ethnicity
 

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