AURORA | Two judges in the 18th Judicial District — including the judge who oversaw the trials of two men sentenced to die for killing a murder witness in Aurora — are retiring this year, opening up two seats on the bench.
Judge Angela Arkin is retiring Jan. 1 and Judge Gerald Rafferty, who oversaw the death penalty trials of Robert Ray and Sir Mario Owens, is retiring Jan. 23, according to an announcement from the state’s judicial branch.
Ray and Owens were both convicted of murder and sentenced to die for the 2005 slaying of Javad Marshall-Fields. Marshall-Fields, who was killed with his fiancee, Vivian Wolfe, was set to testify against Ray in a 2004 shooting case.
Rafferty has been a district court judge since 1999. Before that, he worked as a prosecutor in Denver for four years and as a federal prosecutor for 11 years, according to his biography on the state website .
A 1967 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, he served as an Air Force pilot from 1967 to 1972 and as an FBI agent from 1973 to 1977.
After overseeing Ray and Owens’ trials, Rafferty was tasked with formally sentencing both men to death after two juries said the men should be executed.
Rafferty didn’t make a lengthy speech at Owens’ sentencing in December 2008. At Ray’s in May 2010, he seemed to fight back tears as he said: “We are a nation of 300 million people and the rule of law must prevail. Mr. Javad Marshall-Fields observed the law. Mr. Ray did not. And he must suffer the consequences.”
Rafferty also sentenced serial killer Richard Paul White to life in prison in 2004 for killing an Aurora man in 2003. White also killed several women in Denver. White had been eligible for the death penalty but reached a deal with prosecutors that spared him execution in exchange for him telling investigators the location of his victims’ bodies.
“A great deal of mercy has been displayed to you Mr. White,” Rafferty told White during the sentencing. “You will be behind bars for the rest of your natural life.”
For more on how to apply for one of the judgeships, visit https://www.courts.state.co.us/Careers/Judge.cfm
Applications are due by 4 p.m. Oct. 14.
Rob McCallum, a spokesman for the state courts, said it was hard to predict how many people would apply for the judgeships. But usually, McCallum said, seats on the bench in Arapahoe and Douglas county are sought after and draw more interest than other judgeships.