If the DA knows for a fact that an intruder did it, then it is their duty and responsibility to act on that knowledge wherever and whenever possible to serve justice.
It would be frightening to consider anything else.
Clever, but not remotely what I meant. You said that you didn't have a problem with the DA being on a mission on behalf of the Rs. I begged you to consider what you were saying. Clearly, you did not. If you had, you'd understand how terrifying it really is. So let me break it down for you:
1) You said it yourself:
If the DA knows for a fact that an intruder did it. Well, I realize it's been a while since I looked over my high school civics book, but last I knew, it's not the DA's job to decide who did it. That's SUPPOSED to be up to a jury. That's why we have trials. Can you even IMAGINE what it would be like if prosecutors around the country took it upon themselves to act the way the Boulder DA's office has acted, not just in this case, but in others? I would not wish to live in such a society, and I suspect neither would you.
And that's just the general aspect of it. Let's get into specifics surrounding this case:
2) It's well-established by several sources (which I doubt you're familiar with) that ML already "knew for a fact" that an intruder did it from Day One, and she didn't need little details like "evidence" to get in her way. Steve Thomas in his book talks about her wanting to pursue Bill McReynolds as the killer long after everyone else had ruled him out.
2A) And that's just for openers. She actually chastised Tom Haney for being too tough on Patsy during the '98 interviews. WHAT?! Tom Haney is one of the finest homicide detectives in the entire Rocky Mountain area, if not the country. His record speaks for itself. And here's this assistant DA, who at that time I don't think had ever tried a murder case in her entire career, and to my knowledge still hasn't, telling him he was too tough for using absolutely STANDARD interrogation techniques that the greenest rookie on the beat would know! Haney's general feeling was, "who the hell does she think SHE is?"
2B) Later on, she had the unmitigated gall to tell the cops that because they were men, they couldn't understand a woman's mindset. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I suppose one could be generous and say that ML's experiences as a sex-crimes prosecutor made her more likely to take PR's side, since at that level, you deal primarily with living victims and have to rely more on the say-so of those same victims. But I'm not feeling generous. I think Jeff Shapiro summed it up well: "It's no secret that in 1997, when Lacy was a sex-assault prosecutor under then-DA Alex Hunter, she was furious when he did not appoint her to work on the case. Because Hunter and the police shied away from the intruder theory, many law enforcement officials often wonder if Lacy's attempts to prove them wrong are driven more by her personal feelings than by the actual pursuit of justice."
3) Now, you mentioned the prospect of avoiding litigation. I said that was as good a jumping-off point as I could think of. The reason I say that is because that's HOW ML got to take over the case to begin with! In 2002, Lin Wood, the Ramseys' attorney, threatened to sue the police department if they didn't turn over the case to the DA's office,
when he knew full well that Mary Lacy was sympathetic to his clients. He brags publically about it. What kind of sleazy backroom deal is THAT?! I've never even
heard of such a thing: a suspect's lawyer deciding who can and cannot investigate a homicide case? I'm not a legal expert, so I don't know if that could be constituted obstruction of justice, or collusion, or not, but it damn well ought to be a disbarring offense.
4) And once it was turned over to her, she made absolutely no attempt to even contact any of the original investigators, many of whom had worked on it far more extensively than she had. She brought in a whole new team consisting of people totally loyal to her point of view, including several people who had been hired by the Rs. None of this in in dispute by any side.
ALL of the information I've provided up to now comes from verifiable sources.
And you don't find any of this frightening? THIS is your idea of justice?!
MY GOD, man. This scares the living hell out of me. If this is justice, I don't WANT it! HOTYH, even if nothing I've written here makes a dent,
I'm pleading, on my knees PLEADING with you to consider just what you are proposing.