Read more: Local, State, Crime, Death Penalty, Colorado Senate, House Bill 1274, Senate Judiciary Committee
DENVER (AP) -- A proposal to eliminate the death penalty is being considered in the Colorado Senate.
The Senate Judiciary Committee plans a hearing on House Bill 1274 on Wednesday afternoon.
The bill would take the money now being used to prosecute death penalty cases, about $1 million a year, and use it to investigate cold cases instead.
The bill passed out of the House by a single vote at the urging of families of crime victims.
If it passes the Senate, the bill will then go to Gov. Bill Ritter, Denver's former district attorney.
Ritter hasn't said whether he'll sign it.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
