Who’s to Blame?
Title: “Trust”
Sponsor: Bill Ritter for Governor
Type: TV ad
The message: Attacks on Bill Ritter’s record as Denver district attorney are misleading, distorted and twisted. An announcer asks who should be held accountable for the statements, then cuts to a clip from one of Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez’s television ads, where he states, “I’m Bob Beauprez and I want you to hold me accountable.”
The ad also says Ritter had a 95 percent conviction rate and locked up more than 12,000 criminals.
Fact: The Ritter ad refers to statements made by Beauprez and by The Trailhead Group, a GOP group supporting Beauprez’s candidacy, in press releases. Trailhead has also launched television ads attacking Ritter’s record. By law, Beauprez is not allowed to communicate with The Trailhead Group, which operates independently, so he is not accountable for its statements.
As for his record, Ritter achieved a 95 percent conviction rate for closed cases in 2001, the most recent year data is available from the U.S. Office of Justice Programs.
Denver sent more than 12,000 criminals to state prison during his tenure – twice as many as any other county in the state, according to the Colorado Department of Corrections.
