By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice
A series of violent incidents in Denver during April 2025 has intensified scrutiny of Colorado’s criminal justice reforms, with critics contending that lenient policies on bail and sentencing have compromised public safety.
Five recent cases, documented through court records, booking reports and social media posts from the advocacy account @dobetterdnvr, reveal a troubling trend: offenders with extensive criminal histories, released on low or no-cost bonds or parole, allegedly committed murders, assaults and attempted murders – leaving multiple victims.
CLARK DISMUKE was just arrested for attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. DISMUKE is being held in jail on a cash only $100,000 bond. DISMUKE has a long and violent criminal history starting in 1989 and has spent a significant amount of time in CDOC. He was sentenced… pic.twitter.com/s3MkJK0Vw3
— Do Better Denver (@dobetterdnvr) May 6, 2025
Yet, this issue is not new – historical cases stretching back decades suggest a persistent pattern of recidivism enabled by inadequate oversight, raising urgent questions about the state’s approach to justice.
Recent cases highlight a growing cycle of crisis
In police and court records, the term “cycle” refers to the full process of a criminal case – from arrest to final resolution. So when someone is said to have a 60-cycle record, it means they’ve been booked or charged at least 60 different times.
It’s a measure of how often a person has moved through the justice system, regardless of whether they were convicted. It offers a broader view of repeat offenses, even when cases are dismissed or end in plea deals.
Violent crime surged in April 2025. On April 11, Faith A. Verner, 37, allegedly attempted to stab a Colorado State Trooper in the neck at the state capitol, inflicting a facial cut. Verner, with 10 arrests since 2018, was potentially eligible for a personal recognizance (PR) bond.
Nine days later, on April 20, Hudon Lipton Hall, 52, ordered his dog to attack a police officer. Hall, with a 30-year history and 19 felonies, had been released on a $500 bond posted by activist Elisabeth Epps.
On April 21, two separate incidents unfolded. Donald N. Lucero, 34, assaulted a woman while on seven $0 PR bonds, despite a 60-cycle record since 2009. That same day, Brandon M. Whitham, 29, shot and killed a man at 17th and Curtis while on bond.
The series continued on May 4, when Clark Gable Dismuke, 57, allegedly shot a man in the face at a Denver gas station, leaving the victim in critical condition. Dismuke, with 50 arrests over 36 years, was on parole at the time.
A long-standing issue: Historical cases of recidivism
Colorado’s challenges with lenient policies predate the recent surge. The state prison system released more than half of its inmates in 2004 who later faced rearrest within three years – leading to a 604% increase in prison population from 1980 to 2008.
Serial killer Robert Charles Browne admitted to killing 48 people across the United States including multiple victims in Colorado. The authorities arrested Browne in 1995 for murdering someone in El Paso County after he received a one-year prison term for kidnapping and assault in 1987. The early release of Browne enabled him to murder 15-year-old Rocio Chila Delpilar Sperry in 1987 although this crime went unsolved until many years later.
The Denver court released Michael Lee Snyder on a PR bond in 2009 even though he had multiple felony convictions as a habitual offender. Snyder carried out multiple armed robberies throughout the metro area in 2010 before receiving a 24-year prison sentence.
A human toll across decades
The human cost spans generations. Browne’s alleged victims, including Rocio Chila Delpilar Sperry, never saw justice, while Snyder’s 2010 robberies left business owners traumatized.
More recently, Oropeza’s victim – a 45-year-old father – was killed, leaving a family shattered. Whitham’s shooting claimed another life, and Dismuke’s victim clings to survival. Hall’s victim, the trooper injured by Verner, and the woman assaulted by Lucero all bear the physical and emotional scars of a system that failed to intervene.
A call for reform amid growing outrage
Public frustration, amplified by @dobetterdnvr, targets judicial leniency, DAs like John Walsh and parole oversight. As Dismuke’s case remains in pre-trial stages, and hearings for Hall (May 21) and Whitham (May 20) approach, advocates are calling for stricter bail guidelines, improved risk assessments and better parole oversight.
Historical cases like Browne and Snyder serve as stark reminders that Colorado’s soft-on-crime policies have long endangered communities, a pattern that continues to claim lives and demand urgent action.
Policy shifts and crime trends
Over the course of a decade, Colorado’s prison population shrank by 25%, thanks in part to sentencing and parole reforms like HB20-1019 and SB19-143.
During that same stretch, however, crime surged. The Common Sense Institute reported a 32% increase in total crime statewide between 2010 and 2024 in its 2024 Cost of Crime & Public Safety report.
Will new laws change how Colorado handles crime?
House Bill 25-1147 sought to lower municipal crime penalties including assault and retail theft and domestic violence to state petty offense levels, which would have limited sentences to 10 days in jail or $300 fines.
Opponents contended that this policy would boost recidivism rates, weakening punishment for offenders like Hall. Supporters believed it would reduce jail populations and funding for rehabilitation programs. The bill was vetoed by Jared Polis.
House Concurrent Resolution 24-1002, was on the November 2024 ballot as Amendment I. It required a 55% majority to pass, and was approved by voters with almost two-thirds voting in favor. The amendment gives judges the authority to hold first-degree murder defendants without bail when the evidence of guilt is strong. The resolution was drafted in direct response to a 2023 Colorado Supreme Court decision that removed that authority after the state ended capital punishment.