State of Colorado v. Lorenzo Montoya, a/k/a Lawrence Rubin Montoya

Denver, Colorado defendant convicted of murder exonerated.



Lorenzo Montoya, a/k/a Lawrence Rubin Montoya was charged with the first-degree murder of Emily Johnson.





On January 1, 2000, Emily Johnson was murdered at her home, and her car was stolen. As part of the investigation, Denver Police Department (DPD) detectives questioned Nicholas Martinez, who admitted he and his cousin stole the car and later picked up some friends. Detectives interviewed several individuals they suspected were in the stolen car, including Mr. Montoya.



Throughout their interrogation of Mr. Montoya, DPD Detectives Martin Vigil, Michael Martinez, and Jonathan Priest allegedly used impermissible interrogation techniques, ultimately coercing Mr. Montoya into falsely confessing to Ms. Johnson's murder. At the time, Mr. Montoya was fourteen years old and still in eighth grade. His "cognitive deficiencies and developmental delays" were "readily apparent and recognizable to an adult spending any time speaking to him." Aplts. App. vol. 1 at 250. Without Mr. Montoya's mother present, the detectives "aggressively interrogated [Mr. Montoya] using techniques known to cause false confessions, including . . . lying about evidence, manipulation, threats, false promises of leniency, and fe[eding] him statements to be repeated." Id. at 252.



Detective R.D. Schneider also was involved in the murder investigation from its inception and reviewed all relevant reports and statements, including those related to Mr. Montoya's interrogation. Id. at 257. Mr. Montoya's statements were "obviously false" in light of "the threats made by the officers, the feeding of facts by the officers, the false promises of leniency by the officers, the physical and mental intimidation by the officers, as well as[] the facts which [Mr. Montoya] got obviously wrong about the crime and the crime scene." Id. at 258. In addition to the obviously false confession, Detective Schneider knew that other witness statements "did not even mention [Mr. Montoya] as being present during the robbery, burglary, assault or murder." Id. Still, Defendant Schneider authored an arrest-warrant affidavit containing statements he knew were untrue.



The affidavit generally described the crime, indicating Ms. Johnson was murdered in her home and her car was stolen. Aplts. App. vol. 2 at 327. According to the affidavit, her car was located later that same day, with significant damage to the body of the car and blood on the interior. "Witnesses in the area reported seeing several young [H]ispanic males running from the scene." Id. The affidavit stated that Nicholas Martinez was identified as a suspect and he confessed that he and another individual stole the victim's car. Id. at 327-28. "Based on subsequent witness interviews, Denver Police homicide investigators learned the identity of a third individual who was also present when the victim's vehicle was stolen from the victim's residence. This individual was identified as Lorenzo[2] Montoya . . . ." Id. at 328. The remainder of the affidavit describes the interrogation of Mr. Montoya, including his confession to murder. This information purportedly established probable cause to arrest Mr. Montoya for murder, aggravated robbery, burglary, and aggravated motor vehicle theft.





Montoya claimed that Defendants Vigil, Martinez, Priest and Schneider, knowingly and intentionally, or with reckless disregard for the truth, made false statements that were included in the Affidavit and Application for an Arrest Warrant in the underlying criminal case. Defendant Schneider knew, or proceeded in reckless disregard of the truth, that the information in the Affidavit for an Arrest Warrant was false and/or contained omissions of material information.



Montoya also claimed that the officers engaged in a conspiracy in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He claimed that the "reached an understanding, engaged in a course of conduct, acted in concert and otherwise conspired among and between themselves to deprive him of his Constitutional rights, and deprived him of said right to be free from arrest by false statements and omissions in the arrest affirmation. He further claimed that using false statements in the affidavit was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.



The State produced a jail house witness who testified that Montoya told him that he and two cousins pulled a gun on Johnson and hit her with the gun when she refused to give them the keys to her car. The witness also said that Montogy told him that poured lighter fluid on her body which was not supported by the evidence produced by the State.



Montoya produced an alibi witness who testified that Montoya was watching movies with his girlfriend on New Year's Eve.



Montoya has been IQ-tested a year prior to his arrest has in IQ test score of 69 and was a special education student.

Based on the affidavit, a judge issued an arrest warrant, and Mr. Montoya was arrested the next day. A jury convicted Mr. Montoya of all charges, and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole in October 2000.



Several years later, Montoya’s case was referred to the Northwestern University Law School’s Center on Wrongful Convictions, which conducted some preliminary investigation and referred to the case to the Colorado Law School’s Innocence Project. The case was ultimately referred again to attorney Lisa Polansky at the Center for Juvenile Justice in Denver.



On June 16, 2014, the Denver County District Attorney's Office agreed to vacate Montoya's conviction and dismiss the charges on condition that he plead guilty to being an accessory after the murder because he rode in the stolen car. He agreed and was found guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in prison and was released because he had already been in prison for 13 years.



Mr. Montoya was incarcerated at the age of fourteen and spent thirteen years in prison before the state agreed to vacate his convictions in exchange for his pleading guilty to the charge of accessory to a class 1 or 2 felony. He was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment with credit for time served and was immediately released.



On June 14, 2016, Montoya filed a 1983 civil rights action against the city and county of Denver, and Police Officers Martin E. Vigil, Micahel Martinez, Jonathan W. Priest, R.D. Schneider, Jr. and Police Chief Thomas Sanchez. The civil rights case was still in litigation in October 2023.