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And so from there, i was tapped to run for office, and i did. and i won. >> rhonda was elected to represent aurora in the state legislature. she won in a landslide. >> rhonda fields becomes a leader on two issues. one, for gun control. very, very, very pro-gun control. two, she's very pro-death penalty. >> during the time rhonda was pushing for death for her son's killers, nathan dunlap's lawyers continued to work on his appeals. >> this was not a chance to proof that he was innocent, to set dunlap free. the focus was on his mental health and any other mitigating factors that could have gone i...

African-american men who are on death row for the same thing. cold-blooded murder. and in my view, it has nothing to do with race. it has everything to do about murder. >> over the next few years, rhonda fields would continue to be an important voice in favor of capital punishment. especially because the dunlap case was about to remerge in the headlines. after nearly 20 years of court proceedings, nathan's defense team was running out of options. in 2012, the tenth circuit court rejected his final appeal, and a year later, the supreme court refused to hear his case. district attorney george br...

Rescind the order. when the death penalty is subjected to an election, whether a gubernatorial, in this case nathan dunlap, or a ballot measure, we are saying essentially that the emotions of the mob should rule. >> certain things are simply not up for a popular vote, and i believe whether someone lives or dies should be one of those things. >> you know, it goes back to public stonings and lynchings, you know, we don't have mob justice. >> in early 2014, a poll showed that a majority of coloradans still supported the death penalty and disapproved of how the governor handled the dunlap case. >>...

>> the dunlap case arose in arapaho county, part of the 18th judicial district which is in colorado, is now and has been in the past in love with the death penalty. >> by the time the trial beghaen 1996, the verdict seemed to be a foregone conclusion. >> the trial then essentially becomes about whether what nathan dunlap did is deserving of the death penalty. >> in fact, before trial, nathan's defense team made an offer to the state. nathan would plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence. >> it comes down to what's the appropriate sentence that we were seeking? is this appropriate to plead ...

My son, it was the most devastating event that i have ever experienced in my life. i was very, very angry. i was very upset. and so i went straight to the police department and started asking questions. >> javad had witnessed a friend's murder at a barbecue the summer before, and despite receiving death threats, javad had decided to testify in court against the accused killer. >> he felt like it was the right thing to do because he saw his best friend get shot down in cold blood. >> javad was murdered five days before the trial was set to begin. >> months later, sir mario owens and robert ray,...