Time to support the Ramseys??? Article by Barrie Hartman, Denver Post

Discussion in 'Justice for JonBenet Discussion - Public Forum' started by Tricia, May 5, 2003.

  1. Tricia

    Tricia Administrator Staff Member

    Sometimes people are so clueless that it leaves you speechless.

    My friends read about why we should all "support the Ramseys."

    http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~73~1363510,00.html

    barrie hartman
    It's time to support Ramseys
    By Barrie Hartman, Special to the Denver Post
    What will it take for John and Patsy Ramsey to ever get a break from the hometown folks? Three remarkable developments pointing to their innocence occurred recently in the 6 1/2-year investigation into the torturous Christmas night murder of their daughter, JonBenet. Yet all Boulder can muster is silence and criticism.

    The first development came several weeks ago when Boulder police surprisingly closed their investigation without finding the killer (meaning they couldn't browbeat Patsy into confessing to a crime she didn't commit). Only silence in Boulder.

    Then came another stunning development (and another communitywide yawn): District Attorney Mary Keenan announced that she was taking over the investigation, an action that is virtually unprecedented for a DA's office anywhere. In doing so, Keenan said she is all but removing the parents from beneath Police Chief Mark Beckner's rusting "umbrella of suspicion." For years, the only named people put under that umbrella were John and Patsy, even though there are clearly other suspects.

    Keenan also made it known that she is sending the case in a new direction. Her team, which includes Colorado Springs detective Lou Smit, is now aggressively pursuing Smit's intruder theory: that it was probably a pedophile who got into the house and brutally strangled, clubbed and sexually assaulted JonBenet, not a mother upset with a daughter for wetting her bed (the police theory).

    No excitement. No atta-girls. Just criticism that Keenan shouldn't be letting the Ramseys off the hook until it is proven that somebody else did it. Moreover, goes the criticism, how can Keenan prosecute the Ramseys if evidence turns up that nails them? In my book, people should be saying, "Hooray for Mary. What she's doing really takes guts." And, "Isn't it the job of honorable prosecutors to clear suspects when the evidence isn't there or points elsewhere?"

    Funny that Chief Beckner was never criticized for doing the reverse, of trying everything he could (including manipulating the media into an anti-Ramsey frenzy) to make the parents look guilty long before and long after a grand jury couldn't find the evidence to indict them in 1999.

    And what about the so-called evidence? After 76 months of intense police scrutiny, the only solid evidence against the parents is that they were in the house when JonBenet was slain. That's it! The foreign DNA found in JonBenet's panties is not theirs. Nothing in the Ramseys' family history suggests even a hint of violent behavior or abuse. JonBenet's pediatrician will tell you he saw only loving care. The consensus of six handwriting experts is that Patsy probably did not write the three-page ransom note (which would take some doing for anyone - let alone a distraught mother - after committing such a horribly gruesome murder).

    Then came the third remarkable development and the third disappointing, "so-what" response from Boulder and elsewhere.

    A fresh, unbiased pair of eyes examined in detail the Ramsey case - the eyes belonging to veteran Federal District Judge Julie Carnes of Georgia. In a libel suit, where the plaintiff (another suspect) had to prove that Patsy was the killer in order to collect damages, Judge Carnes issued a powerfully worded 93-page opinion defending the Ramseys' innocence and supporting Smit's intruder theory.

    Instead of sighs of relief for the Ramseys, Boulderites reacted as if nothing had happened. After all, didn't the media report that the judge had not seen all the evidence? Believe me, Judge Carnes had seen enough, especially evidence offered by Smit, to clearly spot the injustice and stupidity of a police investigation that should have been refocused long ago.

    And don't forget that Mary Keenan has seen all the evidence several times over. In a statement April 7, Keenan praised Carnes' opinion as "thoughtful and well-reasoned." She added, "I agree with the court's conclusion."

    Isn't it interesting that it has taken the courage of two women to point the male-dominated investigation in a new direction? It's noteworthy, I think, that both are mothers. While each knows that mothers are capable of killing their children, they obviously can see that it requires a wild stretch of the imagination to conclude that a woman with no violent behavior in her background could have done what some perverted animal did to JonBenet - savagely strangle her, brutally clobber her on the head and, as Judge Carnes said in her report, jam the handle of a paint brush into her vagina.

    Then, for an encore, sit down and calmly write what is perhaps the longest ransom note in the history of kidnappings.

    Isn't it time, Mr. and Mrs. Boulder, to quit turning your backs on the Ramseys and to show a friendly face of compassion? At the very least, can't you be grateful that a new investigation with new leadership is under way? One that you can trust?

    Barrie Hartman (barriehartman@aol.com) is a retired Boulder newspaper editor living in nearby Louisville. He has been a close observer of the Ramsey investigation since the murder occurred.


    If Mr. Hartman is a published writer then I have to assume his brain functions on some level. However after reading this article I have my doubts.

    What am I missing here? I keep thinking I have to be missing something but I am not.

    It was OLD EVIDENCE and out and out WRONG evidence that the judge looked at. Darnay didn't challenge any of it. All he needed to do was read the N.E. Police Files, grab a couple of transcripts and he was good to go.

    Unless the judge saw something she didn't write about in her decision then nothing has changed.

    A small sample of the usual stuff:

    *No stun gun was used ( yes I can prove it. Be patient)

    *What DNA???

    *Note written in the house using Ramsey pad and pen and surprisingly looks like Patsy's handwriting.

    What in the world is going on?
     
  2. Watching You

    Watching You Superior Bee Admin

    Let them rant, Tricia

    Barrie Hartman has been pro-intruder right along, so this article is no big surprise.

    It is annoying, though, that he is so lazy he couldn't take the time to report the truth instead of his one-sided report on Keenan's bias in the Ramsey case.

    Hartman and Keenan can spew all they want. They know Carnes' decision was based on one person's (Smit's) interpretation of so-called "evidence" that wasn't evidence to begin with but propaganda put out by a very biased detective. They know, but it suits their agendas to ignore the fact that what Smit offered the court was not evidence at all. Every piece of Smit's "evidence" is meaningless because it's all based on his convoluted and biased theory.

    I honestly have to wonder if there is anyone in Boulder authority with a brain, because to people on the outside looking in, Keenan and her cronies, including Lou Smit, are nothing but jokes.
     
  3. AK

    AK Member

    Oh man! How funny!!!

    Just when it seemed that Utah eclipsed Colorado for having the worst journalists on the planet, this and Plasket's piece have reclaimed the crown!

    What is it about Colorado???

    Makes one miss Chuck Green and Chris Anderson, and treasure Charlie Brennan. I also like Pat Calhoun from Westward, but can't think of one other person, in any media, in that state who has a clue about how to present information. And so many of them are just slack-jawed stupid.

    Sounds like Hartman is auditioning for a job. Wouldn't we all love the full facts of why his last job evaporated...? Maybe he can get a gig writing press releases for Woody.
     
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