Denver DA Mitch Morrissey

When the Aurora Theater Shooter’s jury came back with a life sentence instead of the death penalty for this scumbag due to one juror, the left wasted no time saying that District Attorney George Brauchler was a loser and should not have pursued the death penalty.  It was a waste of time and taxpayer funds cried the left.

We thought the immediate backlash against Brauchler was misplaced and, just plain, tacky. Nonetheless, if Brauchler is a “loser” (he’s not) because the Theater Shooter received life in prison instead of death, then so is Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey. Yesterday, a jury similarly rejected the death penalty for a case Morrissey was trying against Dexter Lewis, who murdered five people at a bar in Denver, and, then, set a fire to cover up the crime.

Of course, we don’t think Morrissey is a loser (at least, not for this), just as we did not think Brauchler was a loser for the Aurora Theater case. Both Morrissey and Brauchler had a moral responsibility to pursue the maximum penalty that Colorado law would allow for crimes this heinous. The victims and their families and loved ones deserved nothing less.

So, we will wait for the left to pile on Morrissey for his waste of tax dollars and “foolish” pursuit of the death penalty in the Lewis case. If the left does not similarly ding him, it was clear, as we have maintained all along, that the left was simply looking for a reason to gin up critique of Brauchler, who is considering a run against embattled U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet.

If it was really just a political hit job, then it’s clear that the left is really just terrified that Brauchler will run against Bennet, who is having trouble winning over his base.  If he can’t win over his base, how will Bennet capture the hearts of average Coloradans?