'I've Done My Time'; Lawmakers Join Family Fight To Free Colorado Inmate
DENVER (CBS4) - A Colorado family's three-year fight to have a convicted felon released from prison is gaining new momentum from state lawmakers.
"I definitely feel like there will be light at the end of the tunnel," Jasmine Lima-Marin, wife of inmate Rene Lima-Marin, told CBS4.
Last week, House Republicans and Democrats unanimously passed a resolution that calls Rene's continued incarceration "cruel and unusual punishment." The resolution urges Gov. John Hickenlooper to not only grant Rene clemency, but to pardon him of his robbery, kidnapping and burglary conviction.
"The state let him go and it's not right for the state to take him back," Republican Rep. Dave Williams, lead sponsor of the legislative resolution, told CBS4's Kelly Werthmann.
Rene, 38, was convicted of multiple counts of kidnapping, burglary and robbery in 2000. He received a 98-year sentence for the 1998 crime where he and another man robbed a pair of Aurora video stores at gunpoint. No one was hurt.
"We were in the store for less than three minutes. We planned it out this way," Rene told Werthmann from a phone at the Bent County Correctional Facility in Las Animas. "We went in alone, we left alone. There was no kidnapping, there was no burglary, there was a robbery. We were given 98 years because they wanted to make an example of us."
Yet a clerical error led to Rene's release from prison in 2008. Instead of listing his sentence as back-to-back as the judge ordered, a clerk mistakenly wrote that Rene's sentences should run together. After 10 years behind bars, Rene was out on parole.
"In the beginning it was a little hard," Rene said. "Nobody wanted to give me a job because I was a convicted felon, so I had to find jobs here and there."
Slowly but surely, Lima-Marin said, everything started to fall into place. He got a good job as a glazier, married the love of his life, Jasmine, and they started a family with their two boys Justus, 10, and Josiah, 6. Rene became a youth sports coach and made sure to pick up his boys every day after school.
"I was in a place not most people would be after coming out of prison," Rene said.
Lima-Marin said his time in prison changed him and he reformed into the loving father he is today. His wife echoed that sentiment, adding Rene has changed her.
"He is my rock. Everything I'm horrible at he's always good at. We balance each other," Jasmine said. "I truly believe that prison can change people, but I think the individual has to want to change within themselves. There's people who spend years in prison and they still have that same mentality that they had when they first went in. Rene found God in prison, and God found Rene. Rene used that situation he was in and was able to save his own life."
Yet that life turned upside down in 2014. Rene got a call from the Arapahoe County Court saying a clerical error was discovered and he would be picked up and taken back to prison in 24-48 hours.
"We just kind of panicked," Jasmine said.
Late the next night, Jasmine said about 20 officers showed up to take her husband away.
"The boys, they were sleeping on the floor and my husband," she said, pausing to choke back tears, "he woke the boys up and just told them, 'Some of my coworkers are here to take me to work, so Daddy's going to go to work now okay?' And they were just like, 'Okay, Daddy. We'll see you later.'"
Three years later, and Justus and Josiah are still without their dad, and Jasmine is without her rock.
"My life went from being a newlywed to being a single mom," Jasmine said. "It's been hard without our provider. We've lost two cars, we've almost lost our house. I've just been trying to figure out financially how to survive."
Rene said being away from his family again is the hardest part.
"I'm supposed to guide them and lead them in all truth and I'm supposed to mold my children and I'm not there to do that," he said.
Since Rene was taken back to prison, he and his family have fought for his release. In December of 2016, he asked Judge Carlos Samour to release him to his family, saying his time on parole has proven he is not the criminal he once was.
"Justice is supposed to be about what's right," Rene said on the stand. "This is not right."
Prosecutors argue Rene is gaming the system. They believe he should stay behind bars because he knew about the clerical error and never told authorities.
"If I was gaming they system, why would I have stayed here?" Rene told Werthmann. "Why would I stay in the county that I committed the crime in? Why wouldn't have I left? There were plenty of chances. I could've run and gotten away from all of this. Instead, I saw a parole board three times and my parole officers every month. They had plenty of chances to say, 'We caught this mistake, we need to place you back in the system.' There was no point to stay in Colorado and fulfill the obligations of my parole if I was trying to game the system."
At the end of the December hearing, Samour said he would "take his time" making a decision in the case. As months pass by with no decision, Jasmine and her kids are left hoping it will happen soon.
"They're so anxious for him to come home," Jasmine said of her sons. "They'll play games and say, 'This is going to be Daddy's piece when he gets home.'"
Jasmine and the boys have not seen Rene in person since that morning in court. She said she often wonders if the judge has forgotten about them.
"Every single day we're expecting to hear something, then it's like the letdown when you don't hear anything," Jasmine said.
Rene said he, too, is anxious and hopeful to come home soon. As they all wait, he does what he can for his boys over the phone.
"I read to them at least once a week," Rene said. "We read the bible over the phone together."
Despite the mistake that gave him a six-year taste of freedom, he said he is not angry.
"I don't hate anybody," he said. "I'm only expecting justice be served. Every lawyer I talk to says if I had been charged today with the exact same crime, I wouldn't have received the 98-year sentence. I've done my time. I'm not saying, 'Hey, overlook the wrong I've done.' I'm saying, look at the crime I actually committed and see the fact I've completed the right amount of time for what I've done."
Colorado lawmakers now agree and want to see Rene reunited with his family.
"He is a comeback story and an inspiration to all of us," said Williams. "He's been able to demonstrate his ability to become a productive, law-abiding member of society. We need to recognize that, yes, he did do the crime, but he also reformed. That's the whole point of the criminal justice system. If Rene doesn't deserve a second chance, who does?"
Jasmine and her sons attended the resolution reading and received a standing ovation. Tearfully, Jasmine said it feels good to see there are so many people in her family's corner.
"It just makes me feel even more hopeful than what I already have been the last three years," she said.
Rene said he, too, is grateful for the support.
"It's a blessing," he said. "It kind of affirms what I've been thinking. We've all made mistakes, but that doesn't mean we don't deserve second chances."
The fight for Rene's freedom is not over. The resolution for his clemency heads to the Senate on May 4 before it can potentially land on the governor's desk.
"We appreciate the passion surrounding this case," Jacque Montgomery, spokeswoman for Hickenlooper, said in a statement. "We thoroughly review all clemency applications and will do the same with anything Mr. Lima-Marin submits to our board."
Rene and Jasmine both say they try not to think about a decision that would keep Rene behind bars.
"There's no way for me to have hope and at the same time think about those circumstances," Rene said. "I focus on the positive. I plan to do nothing but doing what I'm supposed to be doing at home being a father, a husband and ministering God's word."
That reunion cannot come soon enough for his wife and kids waiting at home.
"My son has asked me before, 'What happens if Daddy doesn't come home?'" Jasmine said. "I just them him, 'I don't know.'"
What About Michael Clifton?
Michael Clifton, the co-defendant in Lima-Marin's robbery and kidnapping case, is still serving his 98-year sentence. Rep. Williams there is a distinction between Clifton and Lima-Marin, which is why there is no political push for Clifton's release.
"Rene was able to demonstrate that he was reformed and rehabilitated," Williams told CBS4's Kelly Werthmann. "He started his good behavior in prison, turning his life around there. Once he was granted freedom, he further demonstrated that. Whereas Michael Clifton did not turn his life around. In fact, the opposite occurred. I believe he's had many behavioral incidents while in prison. So, the distinction here is you had one person who did want to change where the other person did not."
Lima-Marin told Werthmann he does not communicate with Clifton and is not sure of his behavior while behind bars.
"Either way, we were unjustly given an excessive amount of time," Lima-Marin said of their sentence. "So, if I deserve to be free based on the unjust amount of time, then so does he."
Kelly Werthmann joined the CBS4 team in 2012 as the morning reporter, covering national stories like the Aurora Theater Shooting and devastating Colorado wildfires. She now anchors CBS4 Weekend Morning News and reports during the week. Connect with her on Facebook or Twitter @KellyCBS4.
