Colo. scrubs plan to make death penalty easier

A bill to make it easier for Colorado juries to give the death penalty has failed.

The measure was inspired by two 2015 verdicts, in which jurors couldn't agree on death for mass murderers and the defendants were sentenced to life in prison. It got voted down Wednesday.

Republican Sen. Kevin Lundberg of Berthoud sponsored the measure to change death verdict requirements from 12-0 to 11-1. He argued in the bill's first hearing that Colorado's system of execution is "broken."

Colorado has executed just one person in nearly half a century, and only three people sit on its death row.

Republican Sen. Ellen Roberts of Durango joined two Democrats to reject the bill. She says the requirement for unanimous verdicts on the death penalty should stay in place.