Investigators, family members and prison officers are among the witnesses prosecutors plan call to persuade a jury to hand down the death penalty to a man accused of stabbing five people to death in a Denver bar.
Dexter Lewis faces the death penalty for the attack at Fero’s Bar and Grill that left five people dead in October 2012. The 24-year-old faces 16 counts, including first-degree murder, arson and robbery.
If jurors convict Lewis on the murder charges, they will then be asked to decide whether to sentence him to death.
In a filing made public last week, prosecutors provided Lewis’ attorneys with a list of more than 250 witnesses they may call during the sentencing phase. It’s unlikely prosectors will call all of the witnesses listed, but the filing shed some light on what the witnesses will be asked to testify about.
Lewis’ co-defendants, brothers Joseph and Lynell Hill, will be asked about events leading up to the attack, what happened inside the bar and the group’s actions after they left the bar. Lynell Hill may also testify about letters he received from Lewis while he was in jail, describing an alibi and urging everyone to “stick together to fight the case.”
The Hill brothers in the case. In January, Lynell Hill was in prison and his brother, to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
A fourth man, Demarea Harris, was also at the bar with the group. for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on an unrelated investigation at the time of the attack. He was never arrested or charged in the case.
The list of witnesses includes dozens of law enforcement officers, including Department of Corrections officers and sheriff’s deputies who encountered Lewis while he was jail and prison.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies may describe injuries they suffered after Lewis attacked them in February 2009 while he was in jail. Corrections officers from Sterling Correctional Facility may be called to testify about Lewis’ involvement in a 2011 attack of a rival gang member and how Lewis allegedly bragged about it.
Denver Sheriff Department deputies may also be called to talk about Lewis’ alleged assault on another inmate in March 2013.
Victims’ family members and Lewis’ family are also on the list. A jury pool of will be assembled for the case. Jury selection is scheduled to begin on Jan. 20. Opening statements are scheduled to begin on March 16.
Jordan Steffen: 303-954-1794, jsteffen@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jsteffendp
