Colorado parents group calls on lawmakers to amend or repeal criminal competency laws

There's a new push to change state laws regarding competency in criminal cases. The Colorado Parents Advocacy Network has started a new petition that calls on the state's district attorneys to urge the governor to call an emergency special session to amend or repeal those laws.

This comes after charges were dropped in a number of cases, some involving murder and kidnapping, due to offenders being deemed incompetent to stand trial. Right now, state law requires a judge to dismiss charges against suspects who are found both incompetent and not restorable. That is what happened in the case of Solomon Galligan in Arapahoe County. He was facing kidnapping and child abuse charges after he was caught on camera lunging at elementary school children in Aurora during recess last April. But, after failing multiple state competency exams, those charges were dropped, and he's now in a state hospital.

Worried that more suspects like Galligan will be released into communities, advocates with CPAN, Safe2Tell, victims' families, and lawmakers gathered at the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday to encourage citizens to sign the online petition.

"Our communities are not safe," said Lori Gimelshteyn, executive director of CPAN. "This is our state, and we can ask and we can urge all these district attorneys, the ministers of justice here in the state, to do their duty and stand up for justice. We think it's very important for people in the community to understand that while [offenders] might have a civil commitment to a mental health institution, a psychiatric institution, on average, they are being released within 90 days."

Mental health advocates say safer communities are also created by providing effective care to those with behavioral health disorders, including those in the criminal justice system.

Yet victims' family members, like Brittany Visage, whose mother was killed in Monument last year, believe current laws do more to protect offenders and not victims. She said the man who admitted to killing her mom, Joel Lang, had his murder charges dismissed and is now back in the community because he was deemed incompetent to stand trial.

"Help me understand how our laws regarding competency can allow for someone who says, and I quote, 'I knew I hit her. I knew I was dragging her. I knew it would kill her. I just had to get out of there,'" said Visage. "[Lang] is free to walk our streets and drive on the same roads as you and I."

It's a frustration that Arapahoe County District Attorney Amy Padden said she understands and agrees that there needs to be change. In a one-on-one interview with CBS Colorado following Galligan's case being dismissed last month, Padden said there needs to be legislative change to hold people accountable.

"It is frustrating that our hands are tied by the way the state law is," Padden said. "We are ethically obligated to follow state law. We're continuing to review the case to see if there's a basis for objection, but if there is no basis for objection, we won't have any choice. The case will be dismissed by the court."

But Gimelshteyn says that sentiments like "it's the law" are just excuses, adding that the state's 23 district attorneys can and should do more.

"The district attorneys are on the frontlines. They're the ones that have to look the Kerst family in their eyes and tell them there's nothing they can do," she said, explaining why the petition is directed to Colorado DAs. "Quite honestly, we do know that people deserve compassion when dealing with mental health, but not at the sake of justice."

CPAN launched its petition overnight on Monday and said more than 1,000 signatures have already been collected.