On the September 29 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Hugh Hewitt and Colorado Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez distorted Democratic candidate Bill Ritter's record as Denver district attorney by falsely claiming that Ritter plea-bargained illegal immigrants to the “misdemeanor” charge of “trespass on agricultural land.” In fact, according to Colorado law, second- and third-degree criminal trespass is a felony “if the person trespasses on premises so classified as agricultural land with the intent to commit a felony thereon.” And according to a September 30 report in the Rocky Mountain News, the agricultural trespassing charge Ritter had sought was “a Class 5 felony.”

Hewitt interviewed Beauprez following the release of an ad from the Beauprez campaign attacking Ritter's apparent plea-bargaining of legal and illegal immigrants while he was Denver district attorney. As The Rocky Mountain News reported on September 30, “Bob Beauprez unleashed a new attack on Bill Ritter's record as Denver district attorney late Friday, accusing him of giving five Hispanic immigrants who committed felonies plea bargains that helped them avoid deportation.”

On October 1, The Denver Post, echoing Beauprez's attack ad, also reported, “The Denver district attorney's office under gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter approved plea bargains that prevented the deportation of illegal and legal immigrants charged with drug, assault and other crimes. The office allowed defendants to plead guilty to trespassing on agricultural land instead of the crimes they actually were accused of 152 times from 1998 through 2004.”

On his show, Hewitt claimed that by seeking the charge “trespassing on agricultural land” instead of the crimes the suspects were charged with, Ritter plea-bargained “felons to misdemeanor.” Beauprez did not challenge this assertion:

HEWITT: [A]s district attorney for Denver, Mr. Ritter plea bargained more than 190 suspected felons to a very obscure charge of trespass on agricultural land. They were aliens, illegal and legal. And as a result of that plea bargain, they were not deported. They weren't tried. They were simply -- they pled to a misdemeanor, agricultural -- (laughing). I just don't understand that at all, Bob Beauprez. But it is as though he had an assembly line there, a little office where “get-out-of-deportation-free” cards were issued.

BEAUPREZ: You got it.

But according to Colorado law, in cases of second-degree or third-degree criminal trespass, it is a felony “if the person trespasses on premises so classified as agricultural land with the intent to commit a felony thereon.”

Colorado Revised Statute 18-4-503 (C.R.S. § 18-4-503) states, “A person commits the crime of second degree criminal trespass if such person”:

(a) Unlawfully enters or remains in or upon the premises of another which are enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders or are fenced; or

(b) Knowingly and unlawfully enters or remains in or upon the common areas of a hotel, motel, condominium, or apartment building; or

(c) Knowingly and unlawfully enters or remains in a motor vehicle of another.

C.R.S. § 18-4-503 also states:

(2) Second degree criminal trespass is a class 3 misdemeanor, but:

(a) It is a class 2 misdemeanor if the premises have been classified by the county assessor for the county in which the land is situated as agricultural land pursuant to section 39-1-102 (1.6), C.R.S.; and

(b) It is a class 4 felony if the person trespasses on premises so classified as agricultural land with the intent to commit a felony thereon.

Similarly, Colorado Revised Statute 18-4-504 (C.R.S. § 18-4-504) states: “A person commits the crime of third degree criminal trespass if such person unlawfully enters or remains in or upon premises of another” and that third degree criminal trespass “is a class 5 felony if the person trespasses on premises so classified as agricultural land with the intent to commit a felony thereon.” According the C.R.S. § 18-4-504:

(1) A person commits the crime of third degree criminal trespass if such person unlawfully enters or remains in or upon premises of another.

(2) Third degree criminal trespass is a class 1 petty offense, but:

(a) It is a class 3 misdemeanor if the premises have been classified by the county assessor for the county in which the land is situated as agricultural land pursuant to section 39-1-102 (1.6), C.R.S.; and

(b) It is a class 5 felony if the person trespasses on premises so classified as agricultural land with the intent to commit a felony thereon.

Likewise, a September 30 Rocky Mountain News article reported that the agricultural trespassing charge sought by Ritter was “a Class 5 felony.” According to the News:

The defendants were initially arrested between 1999 and 2002 on charges that included cocaine dealing, assault and drunken driving. But they all pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of trespass of farmland with intent to commit a felony -- a Class 5 felony. Some offenders also pleaded guilty to DUI and weapons violations and received prison time.

And according to the October 1 Post article, the charge of “trespassing on agricultural land with the intent to commit a felony” is, in fact, a felony and not a misdemeanor, as Hewitt falsely claimed. As the Post reported:

Trespassing on agricultural land with the intent to commit a felony usually does not fall into any of the deportable offenses, primarily because plea agreements often cite eavesdropping or other similar crimes as part of the underlying felony charge, according to [Denver immigration attorney Jeff] Joseph and a review of court records. Those charges don't involve moral turpitude.

Joseph said the “designer plea” of agricultural trespass is not bending the law in favor of immigrants. In drug cases, for instance, American citizens often have the ability to plea to a lesser charge such as a misdemeanor or receive a deferred judgment.

On September 30, the Rocky Mountain News also noted that “four of the five cases highlighted by the Beauprez campaign's commercial involved legal immigrants” before noting that “legal immigrants can only be deported for major crimes such as murder or kidnapping”:

Four of the five cases highlighted by the Beauprez campaign involved legal immigrants from Latin America. Previously, Beauprez has chosen to focus on illegal immigration as an issue, and this marks the first time he has singled out legal immigrants as “alien felons.”

Under the law, legal immigrants can only be deported for major crimes such as murder or kidnapping.

The September 30 News article also reported the comments of Don Lemon, a Republican immigration attorney, who said it was “unclear whether any of the legal immigrants cited in documents provided by the Beauprez campaign to support the ad would have been at risk of deportation by federal immigration authorities”:

Don Lemon, a Republican from Avon who is an immigration attorney, said he hadn't personally reviewed the cases Beauprez selected, but thought they sounded routine.

“It doesn't sound to me like it's 'shocking,' ” he said. “If it's a murder and they plea-bargain it down to trespass on agricultural land, then that's different.”

During the same September 29 interview with Hewitt, Beauprez again made the erroneous claim that Denver “was a sanctuary city” during Ritter's tenure as Denver district attorney. According to Beauprez, Ritter “admitted, or volunteered, a few weeks ago on another Denver radio show, that Denver was not a sanctuary city. Now, everybody else in the nation knows that it was a sanctuary city, but under his term, I guess, he didn't want to believe that it was.”

As Colorado Media Matters previously noted (see here, here, here, here, here and here), several Colorado media figures and Republican officeholders and candidates -- including Beauprez -- have sought to perpetuate the myth that various Colorado cities are “sanctuary cities.” However, a U.S. Congressional Research Service report from 2004 identified “sanctuary cities” as those that have adopted “a 'don't ask-don't tell' policy where they don't require their employees, including law enforcement officers, to report to federal officials aliens who may be illegally present in the country.” The report's March 11, 2004, list of U.S. "[c]ities and counties currently that have sanctuary policies" did not include any in Colorado.

Ritter served as Denver's district attorney from 1992-2004.

From the September 29 broadcast of the Hugh Hewitt Radio Show:

HEWITT: Yeah, when I got word from your staff that you would be making this announcement today, I couldn't believe it, because I know D.A.'s often do plea bargains. But you usually plead someone, for example, to armed robbery to something lesser than that in order -- if it's a first-time offender. But you don't plead felons to misdemeanor, and you don't let them stay in the country if they're deportable. How often did it happen, Bob Beauprez, on Bill Ritter's watch?

BOB BEAUPREZ: We know of almost 200. I think the --

HEWITT: -- Whoa.

BEAUPREZ: -- count right now stands at 192, and we're still doing an investigation.

HEWITT: That's an assembly line of plea bargains. And what was the offense he plea-bargained them to?

BEAUPREZ: Agricultural land trespassing, in the city and county of Denver. If you know anything about Denver, there's not a lot of ag land.

[...]

HEWITT: What, generally, is Bill Ritter's position on illegal immigration?

BEAUPREZ: He's pretty mushy -- first he started off saying that it was a federal problem. And then when our state legislature decided to go into special session and the Democrats wanted to take credit for it, he said, well, I guess it is a good idea after all. And then, after they did what they did, he said well, we've done everything we can do. Let's move on. And now, it becomes very apparent to me why he doesn't want to talk about the problem of illegal immigration. He admitted, or volunteered, a few weeks ago on another Denver radio show, that Denver was not a sanctuary city. Now, everybody else in the nation knows it was a sanctuary city, but under his term, I guess, he didn't want to believe that it was.

[...]

HEWITT: Bob joins me from Washington, D.C., and we were just talking about a press release put out by his office this evening. He's running against a guy named Bill Ritter, who was the district attorney for Denver for a very long time. And as district attorney for Denver, Mr. Ritter plea-bargained more than 190 suspected felons to a very obscure charge of trespass on agricultural land. They were aliens, illegal and legal. And as a result of that plea bargain, they were not deported. They weren't tried. They were simply -- they pled to a misdemeanor, agricultural -- (laughing). I just don't understand that at all, Bob Beauprez. But it is as though he had an assembly line there, a little office where 'get-out-of-deportation-free' cards were issued.

BEAUPREZ: You got it. You know, in one interview, he was asked about his plea-bargain pattern, and whether or not he thought it was appropriate. And his response was look, we were very busy there. My job was to get them in one end, and get them out the other as fast as I could. I thought, what a bizarre answer. You're not running a drive-through at a fast food restaurant. You're supposed to be metering out justice. And then we stumbled across this -- I just -- it does stagger the imagination, especially when you see some of the horrible offenses that are committed out there, including what we saw this week, tragically, in Colorado. Providing for the public safety for people that are elected to do just exactly that, ought to be job one, not errors in judgment.

[...]

HEWITT: You've released this to the press, tonight. I know you're talking about it for the first time on The Hugh Hewitt Show. Have you had any calls yet from The Denver Post or the Rocky Mountain News?

BEAUPREZ: I understand my office's phone is ringing off the hook, and not only from them, but from very many other media outlets, understandably so.

HEWITT: This is actually a national story, because it does go to the wall, it does go to the fencing, it does go to the idea that illegal immigration is not simply a labor issue, it's also an issue of crime. Have any of the networks phoned in yet?

BEAUPREZ: Not that I know of, but then, I'm in D.C., and not at my Denver office. But I did get word from the Denver office that we've kicked a hornet's nest.

[...]

HEWITT: That's remarkable. Now, last question. I know we're running low on time, Congressman Beauprez. Is there a particular office in the D.A.'s office, answering to Bill Ritter, that was making these decisions? Have you identified, was there actually sort of an immigrant-rights activist nested in there somewhere?

BEAUPREZ: That's not information that we have yet. But my guess is, we're going to get a whole lot of information to start coming forward, now that we have kicked this can over.

HEWITT: It'll be fascinating to see if The Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News lay down on this one, and continue to cover for Bill Ritter, or whether they pick up what will obviously be something of intense public interest. Congressman Beauprez, I look forward to talking to you again in a couple of weeks. I'll be out when the absentees go out on the 9th. And I'm sure everyone's working hard. Congratulations on a good session of Congress, and I'll see you soon in Colorado.