More Press- Denver Post

Discussion in 'Justice for JonBenet Discussion - Public Forum' started by Sabrina, Apr 30, 2004.

  1. Sabrina

    Sabrina Member

    http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~56~2117573,00.html


    Petition requests Ramsey prosecutor
    By Marcos Mocine-McQueen
    Denver Post Staff Writer






    BOULDER - A request to appoint a special prosecutor in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case will make its way to Gov. Bill Owens today.

    Tricia Griffith - who runs the website forumsforjustice.org - and about a half-dozen other people plan to present a petition with roughly 1,400 signatures calling on Owens to remove Boulder County District Attorney Mary Keenan from the case and replace her with a special prosecutor.

    JonBenet was 6 years old when she was found beaten and strangled to death in the basement of her family's home in Boulder on Dec. 26, 1996. No suspects have been named in the case.

    Griffith and the members of the group say Keenan is not treating JonBenet's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, with due suspicion.

    "Those two are under this so-called 'umbrella of suspicion,' but Mary Keenan has been making statements like, the Ramseys are innocent," Griffith said. "She's proven herself to be biased."


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    Griffith points to two specific instances. First, Keenan's decision to rely on Lou Smit, a private detective who has worked for various parties in the case and has said he believes an intruder killed JonBenet

    The second objection to Keenan is related to a decision issued by a federal judge in a civil suit brought against the Ramseys in Atlanta. The judge wrote in her unusually detailed decision that the evidence pointed to an intruder, not the Ramseys. Keenan called the judge's findings "thoughtful and well-reasoned."

    Don Quick, the chief deputy attorney general, said that the statute authorizing the governor to appoint a special prosecutor does not spell out when such a move should be made.

    Griffith and her colleagues have no direct relation to the case. Signatures on her petition were gathered over the Internet, and there is no way to verify their validity.

    Owens does not plan to meet with them but says he welcomes their visit.

    He has asked his attorney to meet with the visitors to see if they have any new information, which Griffith acknowledges the group does not have.

    Keenan said there is no need for a special prosecutor in the Ramsey case and dismissed accusations that she's biased in favor of the Ramseys.

    "I told my investigators to follow the evidence, and that's what they're doing," Keenan said. "We're still investigating it, and we're making progress."
     
  2. Tricia

    Tricia Administrator Staff Member

    Thanks Sabrina for posting this.

    Ok we are heading out. Back later to check.

    Tricia
     
  3. Watching You

    Watching You Superior Bee Admin

    Keenan is so full of it. They are making progress? Right, sure they are.

    As Keenan proved when she arbitrarily removed the case from the BPD, there does not need to be "new evidence" for a new team to take over the investigation. Keenan didn't have any "new evidence." The point is, no one is expecting "new evidence." What we are expecting is a new, unbiased team to investigate the evidence in hand, just like Keenan's team is allegedly doing. What we are expecting is an unbiased team, and that is NOT what Keenan et al offer us. It's an extremely lame excuse for Owens to throw that "new evidence" thing out there. He has completely twisted the purpose of the Petition. Maybe he really ought to sit down and read the reasoning behind it instead of making canned remarks.

    As far as Keenan is concerned, it's CYA all the way with her.
     
  4. Ginja

    Ginja Member

    Biased and unobjective

    Tricia, like WY says, there is NEW evidence in this case and Owens should be made aware of it in spades (hehe no pun intended) ;-)

    Seriously, Keenan pulled the case from the BPD because she alleged they were biased, focused on the Ramseys, and did not utilize outside sources. I think it was River who posted the last press release from the BPD stating how many resources they HAD used and how many people they had interviewed, and how much money was spent and that they had visited 17 states to investigate leads.

    Keenan's office has not improved on any of this whatsoever. She hired known Ramsey defenders (Smit and Douglas) and uses her prosecutors only part-time when something new comes up! Bennett has been pulled into the Kobe Bryant case. Further, Deja posted an article that pointed out that Keenan was MORE GUILTY of the charges she alleged against the BPD than the BPD ever were! She has not consulted with ANYONE...NOT ONE AGENCY...that worked the case. This is outrageous. In order to understand a case, one should at least consult with all the investigators and agencies and experts to hear what they learned in their investigations. She's never done this. Not the BPD, not the Sheriff's, not the FBI, CBI, not Henry Lee or Barry Scheck or Cyril Wecht...NO ONE!

    How many states have her investigators gone to investigate this matter?

    NONE!

    How much money has her office spent in investigating this matter?

    No where near the amount the BPD expended. (But then again, if you don't do anything, you don't have a tendency to spend anything!!!)

    How many people has her office interviewed? (Other than friends and hired hands of the suspects?)

    Mike Bynum had Alex Hunter in his backpocket. Is the governor aware that Lin Wood has Keenan in his back pocket?

    The list goes on as to the incompetency of this DA and her office.

    As Deja noted the other day, there's a HUGE difference between having "custody" of a case and "investigating" a case. Keenan's merely pulled this case from any semblance of investigation. She's "holding" it until WE go away.

    This isn't justice.

    This isn't even a meaningful investigation.

    This investigation is in the hands of biased, unobjective hired hands of the suspects.

    Owens needs to be made aware that Keenan's custody of this case is nothing more than a continuation of Hunter's refusal to prosecute.

    Further, one of the suspect's is now running for political office!

    This whole thing is a sham and without Owen's intercedence, the sham will continue.
     
  5. Deja Nu

    Deja Nu Banned

    Excuse me, Mr. Chief Deputy Attorney General?


    [QUOTE][9] We have repeatedly held that a district attorney must be disqualified in a criminal case where he or a member of his staff will appear as a witness and give testimony of sufficient consequence to prevent a fair trial. People v. Garcia, 698 P.2d 801 (Colo. 1985); Riboni v. District Court, 196 Colo. 272, 586 P.2d 9 (1978); People v. District Court, 192 Colo. 480, 560 P.2d 463 (1977); People v. Spencer, 182 Colo. 189, 512 P.2d 260 (1973). The rationale for disqualification is that the defendant has a right "to prevent the prosecutor from adding to the weight or credibility of the evidence by acting as both witness and officer of the court." People v. District Court, 192 Colo. at 481, 560 P.2d at 464.The Code of Professional Responsibility prohibits representation by a private law firm when an attorney associated with the firm is required to withdraw because of an ethical rule. Code of Professional Responsibility DR 5-105(D). We recently recognized that the rule of imputed disqualification may be considered in determining whether disqualification of the entire staff of a district attorney's office is appropriate. People v. Garcia, 698 P.2d at 806.[/QUOTE] Pease v. District Court, 708 P.2d 300, 308 (Colo. 1985)


    Pease makes it perfectly clear when the time to disqualify a district attorney is necessary and appropriate! There is a mountain of evidence that Hunter, Douglas, Smit and Keenan have such a complete and utter bias in favor of the Ramseys that they will never even be charged, even IF they should mistakenly stumble across any new incriminating evidence. Wasn't that the entire reason for removing the case from BPD--to defeat the incriminating evidence collected against the Ramseys in THAT investigation?

    There is no doubt that Hunter, Douglas, Smit and Keenan would all be called as witnesses in any criminal prosecution of this case. God help any poor soul who is tagged THE intruder--would he get a fair trial with this mountain of testamentary evidence from the DA and her staff? No! And IF the Ramseys are "good for it" as BPD insisted they are, would prosecuting an innocent man in their place constitute a "fair" trial? And should the very people who are falsely accusing him be the very ones to prosecute him as well? Hell, no! How many more affidavits, depositions, public statements, etc. do these bigoted "professionals" need to make before Gov. Owens sees his way clear to comply with the law? And isn't he just as guilty as Keenan for his passivity in allowing her to continue this mockery of an investigation?

    At least they are acknowledging Pease and the Governor's obligation to appoint a special prosecutor with this public statement. But along with public acknowledgement, they are merely claiming it's a matter of timing when to do it. How about AFTER Owens leaves office so he's sure his hands aren't muddied, Mr. Chief Deputy Attorney General?

    What a crock! NOW is the time to act, Gov. Owens. There is a mountain of "new" evidence that Keenan et al's bias is far more substantive than BPD's ever could have been, and if it was sauce for the goose, then the gander better well go into the pot as well.

    This sham will NOT continue. Back up plans are in progress if the governor fails to act and act NOW. FFJ will not let this rest and, like I said, there ARE options.
     
  6. LurkerXIV

    LurkerXIV Moderator

  7. Thor

    Thor Active Member

    Just thought I'd mention that I just heard this on a very quick blurb on Fox news (during Greta's show). They didn't say much, just that FFJ had a petition presented to the governor.
     
  8. Tricia

    Tricia Administrator Staff Member


    Thor thanks for the heads up.

    I watched the repeat of Greta. Sure enough during a 60 second news break they said Forums for Justice presented a petition to Gov. Owens to appoint a special prosecutor in the JonBenet Ramsey case. They showed stock footage of JBR during the blurb.

    It has been a whirlwind trip. More later.

    Tricia
     
  9. Driver

    Driver FFJ Senior Member

    Yes, I saw it, too, on Greta last night. It is satisfying to see that your efforts for JonBenet have gained national attention.* Well done.

    *certainly better than those sitting around making fun of you for trying to get justice for an innocent little girl.
     
  10. LurkerXIV

    LurkerXIV Moderator

    Great Publicity!

    Maybe Greta will do a followup with Tricia.

    I would love to see a Tricia-Woody debate.
     
  11. Ginja

    Ginja Member

    Followup on Lurker's post

    The title of the article reads:

    The media is STILL getting their stories a-s-s-backwards! Don't any of them bother studying journalism anymore? This title is sooooo misleading!

    That's the ONLY reference to the "no need for sp" statement...that the governor said it earlier in the week BEFORE Tricia, RR, Voyager & Zoomama ever met with anyone!

    Cripes! if the media can't get it straight, how can we expect readers to understand what's going on? They see a title like that and don't bother reading the article, figuring another requests has gone down the drain.

    Reminds me of the action in Fallujah last week. I woke up to headlines reading, "Marines Pull Out of Fallujah"...leads the reader to believe the marines actually pulled out. Yet throughout the day and then this weekend via the military, the statement was 'corrected'...the marines HAD NOT pulled out, they were remaining, but letting the Iraqi forces go in to try to weed out the terrorists.

    Trish, do you think you can correct this statement with the AP?

    Perhaps one of our "new" tactics should be "Linwoodian"...that is, go after the bad press and call them on their misinformation and poor reporting. They obviously don't pay attention to press releases...perhaps you could just call them and point out their errors?
     
  12. Bobby1st

    Bobby1st Member

    AP doesn't care

    They have an agenda. They read & write standard issue stuff from biased sources. Follow the money trail. I hate how they write predjudiciously about our soldiers & then further endanger them by their biased coverage. Always have a press sec with you if they try to talk to you(like the Rams) do. JMHO :911: :yellow:

    Go Foxnews. Carol MC. may surface again.
     
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