Last Friday, hope for change in the pursuit of criminal justice and public safety came from an unexpected corner of a Denver courtroom.

For each of the past 10 years, I have described our legislature as the most offender-friendly in Colorado’s history, and each year, the General Assembly has proven me right. In legislative hearings during the past decade, our General Assembly has de-emphasized — if not outright dismissed — the input of victims on the crimes that impact them most.

Nowhere is that more pronounced than the legislative efforts to diminish the value of lives taken by murderers by diminishing the sentences murderers face.

In 2016, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed two laws decreasing the sentencing for juvenile murderers well below the guidance of the U.S. Supreme Court, and lower than anyone in Colorado can remember. One law provided that juveniles tried as adults and convicted of first-degree murder are now parole eligible at 40 years minus good time, earned time, it’s-not-your-fault time and various other reductions designed to parole a cold-blooded murderer more quickly. But wait, the companion law created a special program that permits 17-year-old and younger murderers to apply for a special three-year program that certifies them as “safe” to be paroled back onto our streets after only 25-ish years in prison.

Last year, Gov. Jared Polis signed a law extending the age of eligibility for that “get out of jail quicker” program to 18-to-21-year-olds convicted of second-degree murder, manslaughter and others. You read that correctly; Polis signed a law that provides that legal adults — who are capable of voting for governor, attorney general and district attorney; who can purchase alcohol and marijuana and sign contracts — are to be treated as children when they take an innocent life. Look for efforts by the progressive left to expand that eligibility to 25-year-olds.

Also in 2021, Polis signed into law a prohibition on sentencing felony murderers to life without parole, putting Colorado at odds with 40 other states. In fact, the new law — in effect as murders spike across our state — allows such a convicted murderer to be sentenced to as little as 16 years. With our misleading and broken sentencing system, that murderer would become parole eligible in as few as eight years. Next year, our legislature is going to reduce the penalties for extreme indifference murder — the kind of murder seen in the Aurora Theater Massacre.

Progressive prosecutors have used those statutes and the offenders-first attitude of the state government to offer even more forgiving sentences to juvenile and young adult murderers. In our system, victims are powerless to derail those who seek such weak sentences for the cold-blooded murderers of their loved ones through soft sentences. They have the right to protest their cause to the judges who almost entirely side with the plea-bargains crafted by prosecutors.

Almost entirely.

In an unexpected result in a courtroom in Denver last Friday morning, a judge rejected a soft plea bargain opposed by the victims on an outrageous murder case.

On Feb. 20, 2021, after rear-ending her killer’s vehicle, 32-year-old Pam Cabriales was murdered by an AR-15-wielding 14-year-old who fired 15 to 20 rounds at her. Prior to unleashing the barrage of bullets at the single mother to a sweet six-year-old boy, the 14-year-old — following typical gang protocol — asked the 18-year-old driver for permission to “bust on them.” The 18-year-old responded “do what you gotta do, that’s on you.” When the murderer finally stopped pulling the trigger, the adult drove them away from their crime. Both were ultimately apprehended and faced prosecution for first-degree murder by the Denver DA’s office.

Pam Cabriales’ family expected long sentences for the unbelievably heinous murder. Instead, the Denver prosecutors assigned to the case said they intended to offer the adult shot-caller a sentence to the Youth Offender System (kiddie prison) — for seven years.

Brother Alex Cabriales and his family objected and took their unaddressed concerns to the media. At their next meeting with the DAs the explanations they were given for the extremely generous plea bargain included: now that you’ve gone to the media, we have to give the offer; the defense attorney on the other side is very good and we are lucky to get this deal; it is unfair that the shooter will get a lesser sentence than the adult shot-caller/get away driver; we need his testimony to convict the shooter (who has yet to be transferred to adult court). The prosecutors even suggested that if the family continued to speak to the media, they could be banned from the courtroom. The Cabriales family was unconvinced and undeterred.

At the time of the expected plea on Friday, the family took their objections to Judge Christopher Baumann, a former public defender office head and Hickenlooper appointee who is scheduled to become the chief judge of the Denver District Court next month. Stating, “the plea agreement does not reflect the seriousness of the case or loss to the Cabriales family,” Judge Baumann — in a remarkably rare move — rejected the plea agreement.  Short of a tougher plea bargain, this case is headed to trial.

Imagine that: There’s hope for finally pushing back against resurgent, recidivist criminals; out-of-touch legislators and governor, and prosecutors who many believe value offenders over justice. A judge emerges who exercises the kind of judgment that we deserve from the legislature, our governor and prosecutors. Perhaps hope for change in Denver will come in the form of a robe.

George Brauchler is the former district attorney for the 18th Judicial District. He also is president of the Advance Colorado Academy, which identifies, trains and connects conservative leaders in Colorado. He hosts The George Brauchler Show on 710KNUS Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Follow him on Twitter: @GeorgeBrauchler.