Colorado public defenders spent $6.3 million on death penalty cases

DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 30: Defendant Dexter Lewis, left, sits with his defense attorney Christopher Baumann, right, during his sentencing hearing, in Denver District Court, September 30, 2015. Convicted of stabbing five people to death during a Denver bar robbery that netted $170, Lewis received five life sentences plus 180 years for Fero's Bar murders. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
CENTENNIAL, CO - AUGUST 25: Defense attorney, Tamara Brady, arrives at the Arapahoe County Justice Center for a hearing in the 2012 Colorado movie theatre shooting case, August 25, 2014.(Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
DENVER, CO - AUGUST 27: Dexter Lewis sits quietly, at left, as his defense attorney Christopher Baumann, center, shows photos of Lewis' childhood in during closing arguments in the sentencing phase in Denver District Court on Thursday August 27, 2015. The photo show Lewis at his father's casket after he was shot in 1994. The jury for Lewis's Fero's Bar murder case is now deliberating about the sentencing phase in the death of five people in 2012. (Photo by Cyrus McCrimmon/The Denver Post )

By Jordan Steffen | jsteffen@denverpost.com

PUBLISHED: December 1, 2015 at 9:54 a.m. | UPDATED: June 8, 2016 at 5:38 p.m.

The Colorado Public Defender’s office has spent a combined $6.3 million on death penalty cases during the past 13 years.

In response to a request from The Denver Post, the office on Tuesday released its aggregate cost of handling death penalty cases between July 12, 2002 and Oct. 31, 2015. During that time period, public defenders handled a total of 10 cases in which prosecutors filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty.

Most recently, public defenders represented Aurora theater shooter James Holmes and Dexter Lewis, who stabbed five people to death in a Denver bar. Prosecutors sought the death penalty in both cases.

Both men were sentenced to life in prison after lengthy trials this summer.

Under Colorado law, the public defender’s office says it is prohibited from revealing or discussing details about individual cases. As a result, the office did not release the names of the defendants in the 10 cases or a breakdown of costs for each case.

The $6.3 million total includes expenses the office incurred in handling the cases and the “best estimate of the portion of” salaries that can be attributed to death penalty cases. The office said it did not hire additional staff specifically for death penalty cases.

During the 13-year period, the office spent $1,989,453 on expenses incurred on death penalty cases. For that same period, the office paid $4,343,484 in salaries related to handling death penalty cases.

The 18th Judicial District Attorney’s office has not yet reached a final tally for the cost of prosecuting the Aurora theater trial and is not expected to until after the new year. In numbers available thus far, the office has reported spending $1.065 million on victim-related costs that are covered by a federal grant, and $525,000 on trial-related costs picked up by the state.

The office also paid more than $2.1 million in salaries to attorneys and support staff assigned to the case, though several of those employees also had other responsibilities while the case was ongoing.

Jordan Steffen: 303-954-1794, jsteffen@denverpost.com or @jsteffendp