Exodus as DA Mary Lacy backs outsider as successor

Priorities, priorities from the Boulder DA's office.

Who knows? Maybe the crime penalities are:

Littering: Death by hanging.

Smoking in public place: Torture, then death by hanging.

Child killing: Extremely hard slap on wrist!

Driving without seatbelt: Driving classes, torture and then death by hanging.

 

Look, RR, I found one of those, too, but this one must be the proofread copy because it's more accurate.

 

Cherokee, you outdid yourself!

That's brilliant! They only issue those to the Boulder Fat Cats, which is why RR's one looked different. Aren't they like car stickers to get into exclusive clubs?

:rolling: :rolling:

 

Victim hotline, what a typical Boulder symptom. Whether you're a victim of an intruder or a check forger, call us. We can all feel sorry for ourselves together.

 

You got that right Greenleaf.
:thumbsup: :clap: :clap:

 

hahahahahaaa! Funny!

 

On it goes.......

A glut of homicide trials in Boulder
DA not worried about prosecuting 7 cases in 4 months
By Christine Reid
Thursday, November 1, 2007


Four months. Seven homicide trials.

From December through March, the Boulder County District Attorney's Office has an unprecedented seven homicide trials scheduled — and prosecutors involved in half of them will have left the office before their day in court.

By comparison, a calendar of the office's past seven homicide trials stretches back 15 years, according to records.

District Attorney Mary Lacy said she's not worried by the rare glut of cases or the resignation of three prosecutors who were working on some of them.

"I don't think anyone is scrambling," Lacy said Wednesday. "Nobody is saying, 'I need help' or 'We're going to be overwhelmed.'"

She pointed out that all of the cases have more than one prosecutor, so nobody is starting from scratch. Four trials stem from two incidents; Molly and Alex Midyette are both charged in the death of their son, Jason Midyette; and Tess Damm and Bryan Grove are both charged in the death of Damm's mother, Linda Damm.

"And multiple defendants doesn't equate to that many times the work," Lacy said.

She also said it's unlikely all of the cases will go to trial.

Scheduled homicide trials
Molly Midyette, trial to run Dec. 10-21, charged in March 2006 death of son, Jason Midyette

Ryan Barry, trial to run Jan. 7-16, charged in December shooting death of Boulder businessman Sergio Libman

Alex Midyette, trial to run Jan. 14-25, charged in March 2006 death of son, Jason Midyette

Kevin Elmarr, trial to run Feb. 11-15, charged in 1987 slaying of ex-wife, Carol Murphy

Tess Damm, trial to run Feb. 18-29, charged in February death of mother, Linda Damm

Michael Strauss, trial to run March 3-14, charged in August stabbing death of ex-wife, Laura Swan

Bryan Grove, trial to run March 17-28, charged in February stabbing death of girlfriend's mother, Linda Damm

Sources: Camera archives,

Boulder County District

Attorney's Office

In the Grove case, attorneys have said a plea deal is likely, but deals have not been publicly discussed in the other cases.

The marathon begins Dec. 10, when Molly Midyette is scheduled to stand trial on charges that her failure to get help for her infant son, Jason, led to his death in March 2006.

Her husband, Alex Midyette, faces child abuse charges resulting in the boy's death. His two-week trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 14.

Chief prosecutor Rob Shapiro was one of three DAs working on those cases, but his last day in Boulder is today. He's taking a job at the state attorney general's office.

The prosecution of Ryan Barry, accused of fatally shooting Boulder businessman Sergio Libman while stealing his Porsche on Dec. 18, was being handled by chief prosecutor Ingrid Bakke.

Bakke is leaving Friday after telling the Camera that she could not work for Lacy any longer because of "some huge morale issues" in the office. She is going into private practice as a defense attorney, and prosecutor Tim Johnson is taking over the case.

The first-degree murder case against Alfred Michael Strauss, whose two-week trial is set to begin March 3, is being handled by Assistant District Attorney Pete Maguire after prosecutor Tim Talkington abruptly resigned Oct. 19. Strauss is accused of stabbing his ex-wife Laura Swan to death Aug. 27.

Lacy has declined to comment on Talkington's departure, saying it was a personnel issue that she cannot discuss. Talkington has not returned calls from the Camera.

The teams working on the Damm homicide — and on the case against Kevin Elmarr, arrested nearly 20 years after the 1987 slaying of his ex-wife, Carol Murphy — remain intact.

Past trials
Before this winter, homicide trials have been few and far between in Boulder County. There have only been seven in the past 15 years:

Scott Mutchler, convicted in April 1992 of fatally stabbing Evan Scharf and Scharf's 10-year-old son, Robbie

David Gordon, convicted in December 1998 of fatally shooting his girlfriend, Angela Foulks

Joseph Lee Rios, acquitted in June 1999 in the stabbing death of Anthony Ruiz

Matthew Mirabal, convicted in June 2000 of murdering his wife, Natalie Mirabal

Robert Powers, convicted in April 2003 of fatally stabbing Old Navy employee Angie Fuentes

Joseph Dowler, convicted in November 2003 of child abuse resulting in the death of his son, Tanner

Oscar Lozano, jury deadlocked in December 2006 trial in gang-related killing of Martin Garcia; Lozano later pleaded guilty to felony menacing

Source: Boulder County District Attorney's Office and Camera archives

Those trials are scheduled for February and March.

When and if cases do go to trial, prosecutors will prepare on nights and weekends so they can still handle daily caseloads, Lacy said.

Karen Steinhauser, adjunct professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and a former Denver prosecutor, said homicide cases in general take a toll on resources in DA's offices.

And when prosecutors leave before the case resolves, the biggest challenge is grooming new relationships with the victims' families — something that takes time, Steinhauser said.

"You see turnover in all DA offices ... but hopefully you have people who are willing to devote all the time and energy to be ready for trial," she said. "It's a challenge that can be overcome, absolutely."

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007/nov/01/a-glut-of-homicide-trials-in-boulder/

 

The Book

ANYTHING AT ALL ON THE MILLER BOOK. PLEASE GOD. I HOPE IT IS RELEASED BEFORE JOHN RAMSEY DIES.

 

Joseph Dowler, convicted in November 2003 of child abuse resulting in the death of his son, Tanner

He must not have had any money to buy his justice.

Alex Midyette won't have that problem. And he won't go to jail. :burnedup:

 

Why should the DA's office worry that they have 7 homicide trials to prosecute? Unless the defendant pleads guilty, the DA doesn't do squat to prosecute anyway.

I predict super quick deals....unless a stolen bicycle was involved. Then the case can take months.

 

Yeah, they won't even consider going to trial without a signed confession and the proverbial busload of nuns!

So the rats desert a sinking ship...figures.

Lacy endorses this guy? That's bad. That's how we got HER in the first place!

 

Worth a re-read now......