Two men incarcerated under the state’s habitual offender law were told by the Colorado Supreme Court that they are unable to challenge their sentences.
The justices unanimously ruled Monday that the case Wells-Yates v People does not retroactively apply to cases of David Ward and Rodney McDonald Monday.
The Spero Justice Center, who represented Ward, released a statement in disagreement following the decision.
"Mr. Ward was sentenced to life imprisonment under an obsolete provision of Colorado’s three-strikes law that was passed in 1929 to advance the goals of the eugenics movement. As a matter of justice and common sense, our state needs a mechanism to review outdated sentences from a bygone era,” read the statement. “While the Court did not provide that mechanism today, the Governor and the General Assembly can still adopt policies to make sure that defendants are not serving sentences that are contrary to our state’s values."
Colorado ‘s Habitual Criminal Act is the state’s version of the “three strikes law.” One person who had three prior felony convictions and then got another one could be sentenced under the law. If the prosecution has the authority to decide whether to charge somebody under the act or to not charge them. If it’s proven that the person had these convictions, then the sentence is mandatory.
According to court documents, Ward was convicted of aggravated robbery of an ice cream store in 1993. That count triggered the habitual law. The habitual criminal counts were based on two prior felony convictions. Ward, 62, was convicted of offering violence to a correctional officer in Missouri in 1987. He was convicted of second degree burglary in 1981. Ward was sentenced to life imprisonment. He has been incarcerated for 32 years. He’s currently held at Limon Correctional Facility.
McDonald, 50, was convicted of attempted first degree murder, second degree assault, possession of a weapon by a previous offender, and two habitual criminal counts in 1996. The habitual counts were triggered by an attempted first degree murder conviction and based on two prior felony convictions. One of those convictions happened in 1995 for possession of a schedule II controlled substance. McDonald was convicted for conspiracy to commit menacing. He was sentenced to 72 years in prison.
Dan Meyer is the litigation and police director for the Spero Justice Center and one of the attorneys who represented Ward. He said that the Habitual Criminal Act was modified for it did not require life imprisonment and a second look mechanism. This allowed those who had served 10 years to go back to the judge and seek a new sentence. Meyer said that only applied to new cases.
“If the law went into effect in 2023, nobody would actually get a second look until 2033. So, it couldn't affect somebody who's already in prison,” Meyer said. “So, the heart of David's case is about how, if at all, Colorado should take a second look at these outdated sentences that are not consistent with current law that keep people in prison for far longer than research shows has any public policy rationale or benefit.”
The Colorado Habitual Criminal Act was passed in 1929. According to research from Yale Law School lecturer Daniel Loehr, this law came into effect around the time the Nazi party rose to power in 1933. Meyer explained that a eugenics movement flourished around that same period.
“People are often more familiar with involuntary sterilization as this now sort of shameful tool that was used to try to manipulate the human gene pool,” Meyer said. “But many other states, including Colorado, turned to lifetime incarceration as their way of accomplishing this eugenics goal.”
Meyer said the legal issue involving Ward and McDonald is the right to challenge their sentences. He refers to the Colorado Supreme Court decision in 2019 called the Wells-Yates v. People where the court held essentially that proportionality review where a defendant argues that their sentence is not consistent with the cruel and usual punishment clauses of the 8th Amendment of the Colorado State Constitution.
“Among other things [the case] said that courts should look at recent legislation for guidance. They shouldn't just sort of apply a law that only is perspective only applies going forward,” Meyer said. “They shouldn't just apply it to somebody. But they should consider current legislation because it gives us the best evidence possible of where Colorado's values are today.”
According to the Colorado Department of Corrections, Ward has a parole hearing date scheduled for January 2027. His estimated parole eligibility date is April 19, 2027. McDonald is listed as paroled with an estimated sentence discharge date of April 25, 2029.
