Hickenlooper’s attorneys warn TV stations that death penalty attack ad is “false;” RGA disputes claim
UPDATE: RGA says the ad is accurate.
RGA ad hits Gov. Hickenlooper on death penalty decision.
Gov. John Hickenlooper’s campaign lawyers are asking TV stations to refuse to air a death penalty ad attacking him, saying it falsely states the “governor is threatening to set a mass murderer free.”
The last frame of the ad states: “Now John Hickenlooper is threatening a ‘full clemency’ for Nathan Dunlap that could set him free.” The ad cites an Aug. 25 story in The Denver Post, but the article never mentions the governor setting Dunlap free. And the governor’s attorneys said that’s not possible.
“The statement in the ad is flagrantly false, misleading and factually inaccurate,” Hickenlooper’s attorneys said in their cease-and-desist letters.
The ad is from the Republican Governors Association, which was asked by The Post earlier today about claims the ad was inaccurate.
“There is not an error in the RGA ad. In fact, if the Hickenlooper folks want to have a conversation about what clemency means they should ask Governor Hickenlooper,” said Gail Gitcho of the RGA. “This is HIS problem, his lack of and failure of leadership. We are happy to have this conversation.”
Hickenlooper faces former Congressman Bob Beauprez, a Republican, on Nov. 4.
Last year, as Dunlap’s execution date neared, Hickenlooper granted the death row inmate an “indefinite reprieve,” which Hickenlooper’s attorneys referred to in their cease-and-desist letters.
“The temporary reprieve of the governor’s executive order leaves only two possible outcomes with respect to Mr. Dunlap’s sentence, neither of which includes setting him free: (1) full clemency with life in prison and no possiblity for parole or (2) execution,” the attorneys wrote.
But Gitcho noted that Merriam-Webster defines clemency as “a disposition to be merciful and especially to moderate the severity of punishment due and an act or instance of leniency.” As defined, she said, clemency does not necessarily mean that someone would be set free, but it does not rule that out either. She cited instances where that has happened and she noted legal definitions.
The ad features a heartbroken Dennis O’Connor, whose 17-year-old daughter Colleen was one of four people killed at an Aurora pizzeria in 1993 by Dunlap, a disgruntled former employee. O’Connor said he waited 20 years for justice to be done, but Hickenlooper “robbed” the victims with his decision to indefinitely delay the execution.
“He’s a coward who doesn’t deserve to be in office,” O’Connor says.
The video of Dennis O’Connor was shot by A Better Colorado Future, a political group run by Republican operatives Kelly Maher and Andy George. Last week, the group released 13 painful minutes of O’Connor describing his ordeal.
O’Connor is divorced and Colleen’s mother Jodie McNally-Damore, has a different opinion of Hickenlooper’s decision. Dunlap, she told CNN, “deserves to stay exactly in the hole that he’s in … let him rot.”
And Colleen’s cousin, Gillian McNally, told Colorado Public Radio that she “fully supports” Gov. Hickenlooper’s decision. “I actually thought it was very brave,” McNally said.
McNally issued a statement today:
Our family has patiently sat by waiting for the election season to conclude so that we could turn on our televisions and not be reminded that my cousin, Colleen O’Conner, was murdered in 1993 in an Aurora Chuck E. Cheese. We have sat by as you have used our loss for your own political gain. We can sit by no longer. Please do not use the tragic loss of our loved one for your political ad.
Contrary to what your ad claims (From the ad copy: Now John Hickenlooper is threatening a “Full Clemency” for Nathan Dunlap that could set him free), Nathan Dunlap will never be free, and will die in prison one way or another in payment for his crimes — to perpetuate this lie that he will be set free is outrageous.
To the Republican Governors Association, please take down this untruthful ad.
To Former Congressman Beauprez, please respect our family and our grief and ask the RGA to take this ad down and do not continue to use our tragedy on the campaign trail.
To the media, please do not air this ad or write stories about it, allow us our privacy.
Our family deserves to process our continuing grief in private and we request that you let us do so. The death penalty is a personal issue that requires deep reflection. It is not a political issue that should be used to win votes, but rather an issue that deserves serious contemplation, not 30-second sound bites.
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