Colorado corrections alerting judges of hundreds of sentencing flaws

5-15-2013 Colorado:

Corrections officials are alerting judges throughout Colorado that errors appear to have resulted in early, improper release dates from prison for hundreds of prisoners they sentenced.

The judges are reviewing the case files so they can decide which of those already released from incarceration should be returned to prison to serve out the longer sentences required by state law.

Other cases involve prisoners who are on the verge of release who may now see their sentences extended.

These are the early results of an audit still underway by the Colorado Department of Corrections. Gov. John Hickenlooper ordered the department to conduct the audit after it was disclosed that a parolee believed to have murdered corrections chief Tom Clements was released from prison early because of a clerical error.

The audit, so far, has found "serious questions" in the sentences of 349 individuals either already released from prison or scheduled for release, corrections officials said. Of those, judges have amended sentences in 56 cases.

The errors occurred for a variety of reasons. In some cases, judicial clerks may have given incorrect sentences to the corrections department. In others, corrections officials may have interpreted sentences incorrectly. A full breakdown is not yet available on how the errors occurred.

The audit still is in the preliminary stages and is not expected to be finished until July. The state has identified 8,415 individuals whose sentences need reviews, with at least 2,500 warranting a more intensive look. About a fifth of the intensive reviews have been completed.

If the current error rate continues, "serious" sentencing flaws could be detected ...continued... by Christopher N. Osher