Boulder DA Stan Garnett: Another perspective on the release of Ramsey indictmentBy Stan Garnett, For the Camera
POSTED: 10/27/2013
The lessons for a district attorney from the tragic murder of JonBenet Ramsey are many. I have studied this case closely both before and after becoming DA.
Because no case has ever been brought against anyone in Ramsey, the community has had no resolution and the tabloid press has been free to speculate, sometimes recklessly, based on only parts of the evidence. There has been no public airing of all the evidence in open court, nor can there be, unless and until a case is filed, which has been an understandable frustration to the community.
Which brings me to the "true bills" from the Ramsey grand jury. I became aware of the existence of these documents when I took office in 2009. I asked my appellate department to review them and was told that they related to charges for which the statute of limitations had run years ago. My staff evaluated the Ramsey case to determine if there was any charge for which the statute of limitations had not run and for which there was conclusive evidence. Because there was none, we focused on other matters (including four murders we tried in 2009, two of which were cold cases). My, or my staff's view of what the evidence in the Ramsey case proves will only be stated in open court if a case is ever filed. In the meantime, everyone, including the Ramsey family, is entitled to the full presumption of innocence.
When the plaintiffs in the recent lawsuit first requested these documents, I checked with investigators as to whether such disclosure would jeopardize the investigation. Being assured that it would not, as the custodian of these archival documents, I responded repeatedly to the plaintiffs that I would not release any document absent a court order to do so, both to protect the viability of grand jury secrecy and due to the extremely unusual nature of this situation for which there is virtually no legal precedent anywhere. When ordered by Judge Lowenbach to do so, we turned over the documents.
These documents mean that this grand jury believed there was "probable cause" (a lower threshold standard of proof than "beyond a reasonable doubt" ) based on the evidence they had heard, that the named defendants had committed the crimes listed. That they were not pursued within the statute of limitations means that the DAs with the authority to do so believed that the evidence did not rise to the necessary level to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at a jury trial. I don't know if I would have made the same decision, but I know how difficult these decisions are.
I will continue, together with my excellent staff, to focus on the cases where we can take action, taking as many as possible to jury trial, as we continue to have the honor to serve the people of the 20th Judicial District.
Stan Garnett is the Boulder County District Attorney.
http://www.dailycamera.com/guest-opinions/ci_24389428/stan-garnett-boulder-district-attorney-jonbenet-ramsey-case