Kathy E <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
An announcement by Boulder police that they want a grand jury
investigation in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case shows how important
public perception of this highly publicized case has become.
On Thursday, Boulder, Colo. police formally asked District Attorney Alex
Hunter to convene a grand jury, saying it was needed to assemble more
evidence.
That the request would be made public was unusual. ``It was designed to
put increased public pressure on Alex Hunter,'' Denver trial attorney
and legal analyst Scott Robinson said.
`If this was done behind closed doors it would be just another step in
the procedure,'' Robinson added.
Instead it was done publicly, putting the 14 month-old
murder case back in the headlines.
It is no secret that the police and prosecutors have not seen eye to eye
on this case since the body of the beauty pageant winner was found in
her Boulder home on Dec. 26, 1996. She was strangled and suffered a
terrible gash on her head. The murder of the pretty, blue-eyed blond who
seemed headed for a charmed life has captured worldwide attention.
``It shows you that the parties in this case are as interested in public
relations as they are in anything else in this case,'' said Craig
Silverman, a defense attorney and a former prosecutor in Denver.
A decision on whether to take the case before a grand jury
would be made by the district attorney.
Interestingly enough only a few days before the police announcement,
Hunter said he was looking more seriously at the prospect of convening a
grand jury.
A grand jury can compel witnesses to appear, although they cannot be
forced to testify. In a grand jury proceeding, which is secret,
participants can vote to have someone put on trial.
The big question is whether the child's wealthy parents John and
Patricia Ramsey and her 11-year-old brother Burke would appear at the
grand jury.
Although no arrests have been made and no suspects named police have
said the parents remain under an ``umbrella of suspicion.'' The Ramseys
who now live in the Atlanta area have strongly denied any connection to
their daughter's murder and have criticized police for not solving the
case.
But the Ramseys have always spoken affectionately about the people of
Boulder whom they say have supported them during their terrible
suffering. Trying to avoid an appearance before a grand jury of Boulder
citizens would look strange, Silverman said.
''The Ramseys are in a tough spot.''
Attorneys for the Ramseys did not return phone Another interesting angle
is that in child abuse cases in Colorado the spousal privilege claim
does not exist. The privilege allows people not to have to testify
against a husband or wife in a criminal case.
Both Silverman and Robinson said the Ramseys attorneys would surely tell
their clients not to testify and instead invoke their fifth amendment
privilege against self-incrimination.
Mny people, including innocent ones, invoke the fifth amendment, the
attorneys noted. However, such a prospect would put the Ramseys in a
terrible light, given that the grand jury would be trying to determine
who should go on trial for the murder of the couple's daughter.
But even if an indictment were handed down it would not be a
certainty that a trial would be held, despite the public outrage
that would follow. ``The nightmare scenario for Alex Hunter Hunter would
be if a grand jury handed down an indictment and the evidence was
somewhere between probable cause and proof beyond a reasonable doubt,''
Silverman said.
--
Kathy E
"I can only please one person a day, today is NOT your day, and tomorrow
isn't looking too good for you either"
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