If they thought it was a Ramsey, they would still be singing like canaries.
Interesting idea, my friend. I would counter by saying that still do think it was a Ramsey, but are keeping silent for two reasons:
1) As you mentioned, they don't want JR to file a lawsuit and get their hands on confidential file material;
2) More to the point, I don't think the Boulderites or much of the country CARES anymore.
And it's the second point that brings me around to what I am about to say now. Smurf86 started this thread by asking why did Lacy need JMK so badly? The answer, as I see it, is politics.
Last week, I was watching FOX News and Alan Dershowitz was on, talking about the debacle that is the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case. As he is generally wont to do when interviewed, Dersh expressed his belief that the US should follow the example set by European nations and appoint DAs rather than elect them. The idea being that this would remove DAs from the perils of political motivations. Much as I hate to agree with the man, he made a solid case: all too often, DAs focus more on being politicians and being re-elected than they do on actually serving justice. The idea of getting elected based on promises to incarcerate people offends Dersh (big surprise!).
That's certainly true in the Martin-Zimmerman case, where the prosecutor filed charges SPECIFICALLY because of the threat of mob violence a la Rodney King. Going back further than that, Mike Nifong's continued pursuit of the Duke Lacrosse players was motivated by his desire to be re-elected.
Sidebar: this may be why Dersh was one of Alex Hunter's biggest supporters back in the day. Here's what he said on Larry King back in 2000:
I think that Alex Hunter is, although he's become criticized, I think he's a constitutional hero. He's a man who has made a decision to take the barbs and the slings, and there are going to be many, because it's much easier to bring the case. It would take no courage to bring the prosecution, and then if the jury acquitted, blame it on the jury. But it takes a lot of courage for a district attorney to bite the bullet and take the hard decision, and say there was a murder, maybe it's even likely certain people did it, but likely isn't enough.
Believe me, the idea of an appointed prosecutor not subject to political pressures is, as I see it, exactly what THIS case needs. And some of us, Tricia most notably, have been trying for years now to get exactly that: to petition the governor of CO to take this case away from the DA's office and turn it over to a special prosecutor.
And I say this because it's obvious to anyone with eyes to see that POLITICS is what has crippled this case, specifically the DA's putting their personal politics above the need for justice.
And it's not just me saying that. On that same Larry King broadcast was a man named Ben Thompson. At the time, he was competing with Mary Lacy and Trip DeMuth in the Democratic Primary to be the Democratic candidate for Boulder DA when AH announced he was retiring. Here's what he said:
It's political, the reason that it hasn't been prosecuted. And we have a district attorney's office that is more political than it is a prosecutor's office. I'm sitting here listening to those two talk, or those three talk, and it's strange to me that Alex sounds more like a defense attorney than a prosecutor, and that's part of the problem. Let me say there is a cancer in our DA's office, and whenever anybody points it out, what happens is they attack whoever points it out instead of addressing the issue and trying to solve the problem.
And this man is
NOT a Republican! He's a
DEMOCRAT! He belongs to the SAME political party as Alex Hunter and Mary Lacy. That should tell you something. Just as it should tell you something that Hal Haddon, the head lawyer hired by John Ramsey, was a MAJOR player in the Democratic Party in CO, with connections to the then-governor, Roy Romer and continuing on right up to the President of the United States, Bill Clinton.
So, right now, I'm sure a bunch of you are thinking, "what does that have to do with Lacy going after Karr?" The answer is, EVERYTHING! For someone like her, Karr was just what the doctor ordered.
From Day One, the DA had resisted efforts to build a case against the Ramseys, focusing instead on trying to find some pervert drifter to hang it on. After all, if YOU were a DA known for weakness and making deals instead of cases who hadn't even taken a case to trial (much less won a conviction) in TEN YEARS, who would you rather try to "get" for this case in order to satisfy public craving for justice?
Option A: some indigent with bad looks, an unsympathetic past, and court-appointed attorneys.
Option B: A classy, beautiful former Miss America contestant and mother whose husband is:
A) An executive in one of the most powerful and politically-connected military contracts in the world AND a major source of employment and taxpayer revenue in CO;
B) wealthy enough to afford only the finest say-anything-for-a-buck experts;
and C) represented by a law firm so powerful that they essentially control the state (and, as such, your CAREER) AND just happen to partners with you and your assistants in some mega-money land development projects.
Yeah, I know which one I'd pick, too!
Enter JMK. He was PERFECT, practically made-to-order. A perverted freak who LOOKED and TALKED like a perverted freak. And best of all, he SAID he did it! He was the perfect "patsy," no pun intended. No jury would lose sleep over sending him to the electric chair. Neither, presumably, would Lacy. I'm sure she would have justified it to herself on the usual grounds: "well, he may not have done THIS crime, but he's done OTHER things that deserve punishment." He certainly wouldn't have objected to going to the electric chair. That's what he WANTED! He WANTED to take the rap! He practically put his OWN head in the noose.
Sending JMK to dinner in hell would have given Mary Lacy everything she wanted: it would have made her a hero in the public eye. It would have given her revenge against all the police who rejected her ideas and all the media figures who attacked and ridiculed her, and it would have validated her personal politics and prejudices.
Folks, I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I have no doubt that Mary Lacy would have sent JMK away for this, regardless of evidence, IF she thought she could have gotten away with it. And she TRIED, let us not forget! When his DNA tests came back negative, Lacy was FIRST to do a complete reversal on the DNA, which she had touted for years as a case-breaker and say that it might not be relevant after all. The problem was that, BECAUSE she, and her goon squad, and her pals, the Rs and Lin Wood, had been trumpeting the DNA horn so long, her reversal came off looking like exactly what it was: a hollow, cheap and desperate attempt to salvage her project.
Which, in true book-end style, brings me back to what I said at the beginning, about how no one cares anymore. JMK should have been Mary Lacy's swan song (or, for Irishmen like me, her banshee's wail). She SHOULD have resigned like Nixon did after Watergate, if for no other reason than to preserve what little dignity she and her office had LEFT. And failing that, she should have been HOUNDED out of office, either by the citizens in a recall election, or by the governor, who should have yanked the case away from her and handed it over to a special appointed prosecutor. But none of that happened, because after ten years,
nobody cared anymore.
Oh, there's one other thing I'd say. It doesn't really pertain to JMK except to remind ourselves how ML got control of the case to start with. Roy said he was joking when he asked if the police were more interested in avoiding a lawsuit than they were in getting justice for JB. Well, it's no joke, because that's precisely how ML got control in the first place!
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
specifically said that he and his clients were trying to get the case handed over to an organization sympathetic to them.
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. As far as I know, it may be legal, but it can't be ethical. That kind of "investigation" may fly in places like Zimbabwe or North Korea, but this is America, and we're supposed to be better than that.
For all of you out there (especially the IDIs) who are reading this, I would say two things:
1) I admire your patience for reading through to the end.
2) If you would like a deeper understanding of just how out-of-it the Boulder DA's office was in comparison to DAs around the rest of the country, then I suggest that you go back and read ST's book and specifically compare what the DA's office was doing with what the three "Dream Team" advisors--Rich Baer, Dan Hoffman, and Bob Miller--were doing. THEN, compare the DA in Boulder with the Grand Jury specialists--Michael Kane, Bruce Levin and Mitch Morrisey. I believe you will find it most enlightening.
Now, if you'll all excuse me, I should wash the taste of flame and brimstone out of my mouth!
