Bryan Shaha was a decorated Marine pilot who flew 130 combat missions in Vietnam, then devoted a 35-year law career to defending Colorado's poor and opposing the death penalty. Mr. Shaha died October 24, 2007, after a long bout with cancer. He was 65.

Mr. Shaha volunteered at a Legal Aid Clinic while attending the University of Colorado School of Law, graduating in 1972. He worked for Colorado Rural Legal Services and headed the Greeley office of the Colorado Public Defender system (Colorado's Public Defender of the Year in 1993). Mr. Shaha was named head of Colorado's new Alternate Defense Counsel office in 1996.

"He was passionate for justice - and for mercy," colleague Bert Nieslanek said of him.

Long-time friend Mike Zwiebel said that Bryan "pulled out all the stops to defend those who couldn't afford to defend themselves. There was no ego. It was never for his own glory."

Bryan spent almost his entire legal career defending those who could count on no other defense.

"There may have been no justice in his death," Denver attorney Philip Cherner observed, "but there was plenty of it in his life."