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A man serving 98 years at a Colorado prison in Colorado has been freed from his sentence.
A judge announced the decision to free Rene Lima-Marin in court May 16 due to the circumstances surrounding his case.
Lima-Marin was mistakenly released from prison in 2008 and stayed free until authorities realized their mistake years later. He had been an upstanding citizen of the community after his release, and made an effort to turn his life around until he was incarcerated when the court found its error years later.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Lima-Marin Was Serving a 98-Year Term For Robbery
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Lima-Marin, who was 21 at the time, was arrested and convicted of robbing two video stores in 1998. He was sentenced to 98 years in prison after he was found guilty of kidnapping, burglary, aggrevated robbery and the use of a deadly weapon during a crime for his use of a gun in the two robberies.
A screenshort from surveillance video of Lima-Marin’s robbery. (The Denver Post/18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office)
No shots were ever fired during the robberies and nobody was injured. Lima-Marin performed the robberies with another person, Michael Clifton, who was also convicted.
Lima-Marin and Clifton robbed the Blockbuster store that the latter was a manager at and where the former worked at briefly. The pair reportedly stole guns from a sporting goods store as they hatched their plan to commit the robberies.
On September 13, 1998, the two broke the front glass at the Blockbuster and demanded the manager open a safe at gunpoint. Court documents say that the pair got away with around $6,700. Later that day, Lima-Marin and Clifton robbed a Hollywood Video store and stole over $3,700.
Witnesses at both places gave descriptions of the suspects to police, along with their license plate number. They were arrested shortly thereafter and convicted months later.
Lima-Marin started serving his prison sentence at the Fremont Correctional Facility in Canon City, Colorado in April 2000.
2. Lima-Marin Was Released Improperly In 2008 & Re-Arrested Years Later
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In 2008, Lima-Marin was released improperly after there was an error in paperwork filed through the court system. It said that Lima-Miran’s sentences were to be served concurrently instead of consecutively.
An attorney met with Lima-Marin in prison to work through an appeal and informed him that his sentence was reduced from 98 years to 16 years. The same attorney told him to forgo his appeal and wait for release on parole in 2008.
He was released in 2008, but was re-arrested seven years later in 2014 when the mistake was discovered by authorities.
The district attorney who prosecuted him was curious and searched his name on a government court records database and came up empty-handed on January 7, 2014. Once it was noticed, authorities moved fast to correct the error. He was arrested hours later and ordered to serve the rest of his 98-year sentence.
Once back in prison, his attorneys teamed up to put together a 30-page petition for a writ of habeas corpus, saying that he should be released because he wasn’t allowed numerous constitutional rights.
The petition looked around the country for similar robberies, and it was determined that he would be facing about 8-10 years imprisonment if the incidents were to take place at present time.
The case struck a nerve with some, and members of the community made an online petition of their own on Change.org. It garnered over 285,000 signatures and asked Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper to release Lima-Marin.
3. He Started a Family When On His Release
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When he was released in 2008, Lima-Marin made an effort to put his life back together.
He found a permanent job as a glazier for Harmon Construction, Inc., got married and had two sons — Justus (10) and JoJo (7) — with his wife, Jasmine.
Soon enough, he bought a house in Aurora — the same place he committed the two robberies. He completed five years of parole before his improper release was discovered and he was placed back into prison.
“His case was unique in that sense,” his attorney Kimberly Diego said to The Post. “Not all people who are rehabilitated behave that way.”
When news that he was going to be released from prison was given to Jasmine on May 16, she was understandably ecstatic. The Denver Post reported that she was eating lunch in her car during work when she got the news through an email from her husband’s lawyer.
“I just rolled up my windows in the car and started screaming,” she said to the newspaper. “My screaming turned into laughter and, ‘Thank you, God!’ The first person I called to tell was his mom, and we were both crying on the phone and pretty much screaming.”
4. A Judge Said It ‘Would Be Utterly Unjust’ to Serve His Term
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Lima-Miran was granted his full release by Arapahoe County District Court Judge Carlos Armando Samour Jr.
In Judge Samour’s 165-page ruling, he said that “it would be utterly unjust to compel Lima-Marin, at this juncture, to serve the rest of his extremely long sentence.”
In effect, after its utter lack of care led to Lima-Marin’s premature release and prolonged erroneous liberty, in January 2014 the government decided to compensate for its transgressions by swiftly turning back the clock and returning Lima-Marin to prison — not through the use of a magic wand or the invention of a time machine built out of a DeLorean, which might have transported him back to his life in April 2008, but through the simple issuance of an arrest warrant, which merely put him back in prison, disregarding everything that had transpired between April 2008 and January 2014
To take a look at the full document, read below:
Rene Lima-Marin decision by Chris on Scribd
The attorney general’s office of Colorado had long argued against his release.
“We understand that this is an emotionally-charged case,” spokeswoman Annie Skinner said to The Post. “We will work to complete our review of the decision as quickly as possible.”
Governor Hickenlooper’s office also released a statement after the decision was handed down, saying the entire process isn’t complete yet.
The clemency process is separate from today’s decision. The governor’s review will consider if today’s decision impacts the pending application for clemency.
5. His Family Is Anxiously Awaiting His Arrival Home
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Once Lima-Miran’s surprise release was granted by the court, his family went into planning mode to welcome him home.
Scenes of his family rejoicing at the news were shared by CBS 4 News.
Smiling sons, hugging parents & elated friends share in the joy of Rene Lima-Marin’s ordered release. At 10, the surprise announcement.
While his official release will come soon enough, the court is still required to terminate the sentence and send an order saying that to the Department of Corrections.