District Judge Michael Heydt - selected to decide whether...

District Judge Michael Heydt - selected to decide whether Lucas Salmon should be executed for a 1997 murder in Colorado Springs - refused to participate in this new process. In his resignation letter, Heydt said the law is "manifestly unworkable," largely because two of the three judges would not have been present during the trial and would have to base their death-penalty decision on transcripts. Sen. Bill Thiebaut, D-Pueblo, voted against the law four years ago and praised Heydt. "In the American system of justice, the jury is the core foundation," Thiebaut said. "This really is a dangerous, elite-type system. I think (Heydt) was courageous for saying what he did."