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Why the New D.A. Isn't Up to the Job Hunter's judgments about the case are no longer relevant because his term ended early 2001 when he chose not to run for re-election. Unfortunately, his successor doesn't show any more inclination to get to the bottom of the case than he did. New D.A. Mary Keenan, who was an assistant D.A. under Hunter, didn't take any publicly known action on the case until nearly two years into her term, and then she did so only after receiving a letter from Ramsey attorney Wood informing her, according to press reports, that the Ramseys were considering suing Boulder unless they were exonerated. Keenan didn't tell Boulder residents of her decision to take an active role in the case, but she did tell Ramsey attorney Wood. In a letter to him, she said the Boulder police investigation of the Ramseys had been "exhaustive and thorough," that she would proceed without any further investigation by police, using her department's own investigators, that she would focus on new leads or leads not previously investigated, that she would work "cooperatively" with retired detective Smit who is the prime advocate of the intruder theory, that she would make "every effort to communicate openly with you," and that she would not go to the press to publicize her decision. She was acting, she wrote, because a "violent child murderer is at large." Ramsey attorney Wood was delighted. His clients "are out from the umbrella of suspicion," he declared. Keenan is either unaware of the evidence that gives prosecutors reason to believe that the Ramseys perpetrated a cover-up, or she has decided not to act on it. And she seems oblivious to the indications that JonBenet wasn't murdered and that there was no intruder. Indeed, with her comment that there is "a violent child murderer at large," Keenan endorsed the Ramseys' theory of the case and absolved them of responsibility for what happened to their daughter, ignoring the police conclusion that there is a "probability" the Ramseys were involved in the death of their daughter. Keenan also aligned herself with the Ramseys when earlier this month she described the ruling of the judge who tossed out the defamation suit against the Ramseys last month as "thoughtful and well reasoned," even though she knew the judge didn’t have access to the evidence in police files. Keenan didn’t respond to a request for comment for this article. More importantly, even if Keenan wanted to solve the case without pussyfooting with the Ramseys, she is ill-equipped to do so. The D.A.'s staff has only two investigators, neither of whom is trained to do a homicide investigation, former Boulder assistant D.A. Bill Wise told the Rocky Mountain News in February. Keenan has cut herself off from the investigative resources she needs to pursue the case. Prosecutor Kane says Keenan was among the members of Hunter's team who believe JonBenet had been killed by an intruder. He says Keenan's letter to the Ramseys was inappropriate. "I don't think that as a district attorney you send a letter to someone who is still under suspicion, basically saying to them that we're going to look elsewhere," he complained in December on a cable TV show. All this makes Keenan ill-equipped to carry the case forward. But the biggest reason she's the wrong person to do so is that if John and Patsy Ramsey covered up the circumstances of their daughter's death, they won't drop their cover-up and tell what happened unless they're faced with prosecutors determined to throw them in prison for as many years as possible, or at least prepared to act like they are. Colorado Gov. Bill Owens can intervene and call for the appointment of a special prosecutor. Each of his predecessors has ordered probes by the state attorney general's office in cases in which local D.A.s either couldn't be trusted or had decided not to act. In 1976, then Gov. Richard Lamm ordered the state attorney general to look into allegations of public corruption in two counties. Seven public officials were charged and convicted as a result. In 1998, then Gov. Roy Romer intervened after a local D.A. declined to prosecute in a sex-abuse case. A special prosecutor subsequently convicted three people. In the Ramsey case, the political downside for Owens if he were to intervene are minimal. Keenan would be furious and he'd ruffle some feathers among Boulder County officials, most of whom are Democrats anyway (Owens is a Republican), and most of whom desperately want the Ramsey to go away for fear the city will get more bad publicity. Conversely, the political upside for Owens is high. Owens would win national attention, he would win kudos for leadership, and either the prosecutor he appointed would break the case open, in which case Owens would rightfully bask in the limelight, or Owens would win points for at least getting the case into the hands of someone who could make one final, objective assessment about whether there is evidence to support charges, and if so which ones against whom. There is, as it happens, a Denver area D.A. well positioned to take over the case. One of Denver D.A. Bill Ritter's assistant D.A.s spent nearly two years working on the case with Hunter and Kane. In addition Ritter has a stable of homicide investigators, one of whom is Det. Tom Haney, the same detective who interviewed Patsy Ramsey in 1998. Haney worked the case over the course of nearly two years while on loan to Boulder police and is familiar with all in the evidence in the case through 1998 when he played a key role during a formal presentation of the evidence to D.A. Hunter and a team of experts. Ritter would not have to start from the beginning if he had the case. And he's even a Democrat, which would insulate Owens against charges he's motivated by considerations of partisanship. Gov. Owens has a mixed record on matters involving judicial investigations. He botched a review of the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School by refusing to give subpoena power to the panel he named to probe the disaster, and by naming a panel that declared from the outset that it wasn't going to evaluate the actions of law enforcement in responding to the disaster, even though that was precisely the question that needed the most scrutiny. But Owens has shown a willingness to put some PR heat on the Ramseys. In 1999 he told them to "quit hiding" behind their hired help and "come back to Colorado and work with us to find the killers." He declined to name a special prosecutor at that time, but that was in part because he said there was "substantial new evidence" that was just then being analyzed. That was more than three years ago now. Whatever hope Owens had at the time that the new evidence would result in charges has been dashed. As a politician, Owens has ostensibly more of an interest in getting at the truth of what happened to JonBenet than prosecutors. But first someone would have to tell him to take another look at the case. There's no indication it's on his radar screen. He hasn't spoken publicly on it since his 1999 comments. Unfortunately, there's not much time for Owens to act. The statute of limitation on the misdemeanor charges the Ramseys could be charged with is 18 months. Under Colorado law the "ticking of the clock" stopped once the Ramseys left Colorado in mid-1997, but resumed after 5 years, or in mid 2002. That means that prosecutors have until June 26 of this year to file the misdemeanor charges or forever pass on that option. They have until the end of 2005 to file tampering with evidence charges. But the chances of securing a deal resolving the case increase the more leverage prosecutors have over the Ramseys. And the most likely way the case is going to be solved is with a deal. The Deal to Solve the Mystery There are four components to one possible deal. First, assuming that the fiber evidence shows what prosecutors privately claimed it shows, that the other evidence cited by Det. Thomas and available from other sources stands up to scrutiny, and that a special prosecutor reviewing the evidence finds it is sufficient to support cover-up charges, John and Patsy Ramsey, in order to avoid a trial, would need to plead guilty to a felony count of tampering with evidence. If the prosecutor has sufficient evidence to charge the Ramseys with a felony and multiple misdemeanor "false statement" counts, that would give the prosecutor considerable leverage. Just three misdemeanor and a felony charges would mean the Ramseys would face several years in prison if convicted. The prosecutor could also dangle a willingness to recommend light sentences. Second, the prosecutor could insist that the Ramseys compensate Boulder County for the resources its officials diverted into trying to unravel their cover-up. The Ramseys would be amenable to such a payment if the amount the prosecutor seeks is less than what the Ramseys' attorneys and experts would charge them to defend them against criminal charges. Third, and most importantly, the prosecutor would need to get the most elusive prize of all: the truth. John and Patsy should be required to drop the cover-up, and explain what they know about what happened — all of what they know — under oath and penalty of perjury, with the transcript of their testimony put into the public record. Why would the Ramseys be willing to drop the cover-up after sticking to it the past six years? They would, of course, be tempted by the prospect of avoiding a trial on felony charges and, if they're convicted, spending years in prison. But the key to get them to talk is to give them the one thing they crave as much as the public craves the truth: the assurance their family (what's left of it) will not be ripped apart, no matter the truth. Here's one way to cinch the deal: Allow the Ramseys to keep within the family the secret of what caused the accident that resulted in their daughter's death, as long as they acknowledge the cover-up. The whole truth would be better. A big chunk of the truth would be better than what we are stuck with today: an eternal mystery, the lingering suspicion there's a child murderer on the loose, and an investigation that's going nowhere. So a deal that is there to be made — a deal that would resolve the case — is this: a guilty plea by each parent to a felony count of evidence tampering, a recommendation for leniency, and the truth of what happened that night (or as much of it as prosecutors can get), in return for no or short prison terms and the right to keep what's left of the family together -- no matter what happened that night. The circus surrounding the death of the 6-year-old beauty queen could then be taken down, and Boulder authorities could redirect their law enforcement resources in more appropriate ways. D.A. Keenan could start, for example, by asking Police Chief Beckner if there's anything she can do to help find the killer of Susannah Chase, the woman bludgeoned to death a year after JonBenet. In that case, there's a murder to be solved. Ryan Ross is a legal affairs writer based in Denver. He has been published in the Washington Post, the National Law Journal, the ABA Journal and Legal Times, among other publications, and has twice appeared as an expert on "Nightline." He can be reached by email at Mtnry@aol.com. |