Ramsey prosecutors defend Karr decision

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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drm...953150,00.html

DA takes lumps from guv, lawyers
Criticism unfair, says ex-prosecutor Early

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News
August 29, 2006
Just days ago, Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy was giving an Academy Award-style press conference, thanking one police officer after another for their help in arresting John Mark Karr.
Among those watching in disbelief that morning was Denver criminal defense attorney David Lane.

"She looked ridiculous thanking every law enforcement officer on the planet before she had nailed the DNA," Lane said.

"And she is now scrambling madly to save her career."

Long before tests showed Karr's DNA wasn't found in the evidence collected at the JonBenet Ramsey slaying scene, Mary Lacy was intensely second-guessed.

But with the news Monday that charges were being dropped, the armchair quarterbacking mounted, including Gov. Bill Owens' statement that "Mary Lacy should be held accountable for the most extravagant and expensive DNA test in Colorado history."

Former Denver District Attorney Norm Early said he doesn't believe the blistering is fair.

"I think about what would have happened if one of those kids in Thailand had been sexually assaulted and nothing had been done to remove him," Early said.

"I think they proceeded with an abundance of caution, assuming he might well be the right guy until they were able to determine that he wasn't."

Criminal defense attorney Harvey Steinberg agreed in part.

"If there had been a DNA match, obviously everybody would be singing a different tune," he said. "(Lacy) was desperate to find the killer of this kid."

"Now she's embarrassed and she has egg on her face, but it's because this thing got spun out of control."

Former Boulder prosecutor Trip DeMuth, who once was assigned to the case, said he worries now about the future of the investigation.

"I'm very afraid that this will discredit Mary Lacy and . . . make her less inclined to even investigate," he said. "I think we have to put it behind us. If we focus too much on this mistake, there's only one person who benefits and that's the killer of this little girl."

Not 'her best day'

Lacy could not be reached for comment.

It's the second time in three years an unflattering national spotlight has been directed at Lacy.

In 2003, when the district attorney was known as Mary Keenan, she was criticized for her handling of a football recruiting scandal at the University of Colorado.

Keenan later decided to take her husband's name.

The Boulder Democrat, who must leave office in January 2009 because of term limits, had kept a lower profile since the CU case.

Then came the news that Karr was considered a suspect and Monday's revelation that he was not.

"It wasn't her best day," said defense attorney Craig Truman.

But former Denver prosecutor Craig Silverman blistered Lacy.

"Mary got a little scammed, and the taxpayers of Boulder got fleeced," he said. "This is prosecutorial ineptitude.

"There were many more professional and discreet ways she could have investigated John Mark Karr before making this decision to arrest him in Thailand."

Silverman said if the district attorney was worried Karr might behave inappropriately with a student there she could have notified the school that he was a fugitive on a child pornography charge.

In addition, he questioned why investigators sent to Thailand to shadow Karr didn't just follow him and get something he had touched to be tested for DNA.

"They could have simply and legally followed into a restaurant or bathroom, picked up a discarded napkin or towel or eating utensil, sipping cup or bottle of Coke and compared his DNA before creating this international hubbub," Silverman said.

Steinberg shot down that theory.

"You want to do it the right way. You want a clean sample," he said.

"They had somebody who is familiar with all the facts and circumstances of the case suggesting that he is the one who did it. She would be derelict in her responsibility if she didn't check it out," Steinberg said. I think if Mary Lacy had to do it all over again, she would have sent her investigators to meet with him and convince him to submit a sample. This is a guy who wanted his 15 minutes of fame.

"She was kind of in a no-win situation."

During Lacy's news conference Aug. 17, she indicated that the office had to move quicker than planned.

But Lane is among those who believes Lacy "jumped the gun."

"The guy is a strange bird, no question about it, but you can alert the Thai authorities, say let him teach, be aware of this guy," Lane said.

Early, the former district attorney, said DAs sometimes have to make difficult decisions based on the information they know at the time.

He said if Karr hadn't been arrested, and instead had slipped from authorities, changed his appearance and couldn't be found, "People would be saying the authorities had him in the palm of their hands and let him go."

"Let's forget that he was the wrong guy. Suppose he had been the right guy, and that they hadn't gone through all of these measures to test him and to compare his DNA with the evidence," Early said. "There would have been so much mud on their face."