Date: Tue, 5 Nov 1996 23:31:49 -0700 (MST) From: Jury Rights Project <[j--g--s] at [darkstar.cygnus.com]> To: [j--g--s] at [darkstar.cygnus.com] Subject: Kriho case update (11/5/96) Update on Laura Kriho case November 5, 1996 Judge Barnhill wants to jail jurors and send killers to half-way houses Many of you have been following the case of Laura Kriho, a former juror cited for contempt of court for deliberating "improperly" in a jury room. Colorado First Judicial District Judge Kenneth Barnhill was the judge who cited Kriho for contempt of court. At the request of Kriho's defense attorney, Paul Grant, Judge Barnhill reluctantly recused himself from her case. Kriho was tried by the district's Chief Judge Henry Nieto. As reported in the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post on Election Day, Judge Barnhill now is being asked to recuse himself from another case -- this time by the prosecuting attorney. Apparently, Judge Barnhill wants to sentence a man convicted of 69 felonies to a half-way house. The prosecutor wants the man to be sent to prison and is asking the judge to recuse himself because he is biased in favor of the defendant. Kriho, whose only "crime" was allegedly to offend Judge Barnhill, was offered a plea bargain which included 90 days in jail (which she refused). It is amazing that Judge Barnhill wants to free killers but incarcerate jurors. It is a good thing that Barnhill is retiring in January However, if he weren't retiring, his actions would warrant a recall from office. But citizens can't recall judges; they are appointed for life. Juries have been traditionally one of the only ways to control judges. And now the judges in the First Judicial District want to destroy the power of juries by prosecuting ex-juror Laura Kriho. The whole thing reeks of the kind of tyranny against which our fore-fathers fought in the Revolutionary War. In what may be the longest deliberation period in criminal court history, Judge Nieto has not rendered a verdict on the Kriho case. Her trial ended October 2nd. Now that the elections are over, perhaps we can expect a verdict soon. Hopefully Judge Nieto will be more impartial than Judge Barnhill. The Rocky Mountain News story follows. Feedback is encouraged to all of our local papers. Those with email are listed below. For a complete list of snail mail addresses and faxes, email [j--g--s] at [welcomehome.org.] Thank you for your support! Dave Almquist Jury Rights Project Colorado Front Range Newspapers [l--t--s] at [denverpost.com] Denver Post, Denver [l--t--s] at [denver-rmn.com] Rocky Mt. News, Denver [n--s] at [dailycamera.com] Daily Camera, Boulder [t--lb--t] at [bcn.boulder.co.us] Colorado Daily, Boulder [b--di--r] at [tesser.com] Boulder Weekly, Boulder [n--s] at [boulderplanet.com] Boulder Planet, Boulder [m t n ear] at [indra.com] Mountain Ear, Nederland [e--o--l] at [westword.com] Westword, Denver Geographical Note: The First Judicial District is comprised of both Gilpin and Jefferson Counties. Late note from the courts: Judge Barnhill denied the motion to recuse himself. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Rocky Mountain News Tuesday, November 5, 1996 Sentencing in fatal bus crash stalls Prosecutor wants to dump Judge Barnhill, says he has advocated leniency for driver By Charlie Brennan Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer Golden -- Sentencing of a man convicted of 69 felonies in a fatal casino bus crash has been derailed by controversy over a judge's alleged out-of-court comments advocating leniency. William J. Lucero, 37, was to have been sentenced today by Jefferson County District Judge Kenneth Barnhill for his Aug. 2 convictions stemming from the collision Aug. 27, 1995, with a Casino Bus Transportation bus headed for Black Hawk on Colorado 119. The crash, which occurred after Lucero fell asleep and veered into the wrong lane after a night of partying with cocaine, marijuana and alcohol, killed bus passengers Oscar Montbrun, 68, Myrna Oen, 68, and Patricia Wiepzkowski, 55. Thirty other passengers were seriously injured. The charges on which Lucero was convicted included 30 counts of vehicular assault while driving drunk and three of vehicular homicide while under the influence. He was scheduled for sentencing today, and prosecutor Judy Archuleta was expected to argue for a prison term of 10 to 30 years. Instead, Archuleta will ask for a new judge at a hearing. "I've been a prosecutor for 11 years, and I've never asked for a recusal before," she said. "That's how strongly I feel about this." Barnhill would not comment on the case Monday. But he filed a response last week to Archuleta's motion in which he said he remains impartial. Archuleta alleges in court documents that Barnhill made a "secretive" request of a probation officer to "be creative" in drafting a sentencing recommendation, arguing that Lucero was "a nice man." Court documents show that after a county corrections screening committee Oct. 2 rejected Lucero as a candidate for community corrections, Barnhill contacted Jefferson County District Judge James D. Zimmerman, who is on the corrections committee's board. Barnhill, according to Archuleta, asked Zimmerman to have the committee reconsider Lucero for community corrections placement - instead of prison - based on "new and relevant" information about Lucero. Prosecutor Steve Storey, a colleague of Archuleta's, attended a reconsideration meeting Oct. 24. Storey said that at that session, Zimmerman quoted a letter from Barnhill saying Lucero was "a mild-mannered, soft-spoken, law-abiding citizen" and that the deaths were "an unfortunate accident, caused because Mr. Lucero fell asleep at the wheel, not because of the effects of any controlled substance." In her motion seeking a new judge, Archuleta protested that all Barnhill's communications with Zimmerman and probation officials were conducted "in secrecy" wrongly excluded her and that Barnhill was dispensing information about Lucero that was "outright wrong and misleading in a way that benefits one party to the case, the defendant." Lucero was freed from jail one week after his trial, when Barnhill reduced his bail from $500,000 to $100,000. ### Rocky Mountain News 400 W. Colfax Denver, CO 80204 Phone: (303) 892-5000 Fax: (303) 892-5499 Email: [l--t--s] at [denver-rmn.com] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Jury Rights Project ([j--g--s] at [welcomehome.org]) To be added to or removed from this mailing list, send email. Background info.: http://www.execpc.com/~doreen http://www.bend-or.com/~mschmitz/laura.html Donations to support Laura's defense can be made to: -- Laura Kriho Legal Defense Fund -- c/o Paul Grant (defense attorney) Box 1272, Parker, CO 80134 Email: [p k grant] at [ix.netcom.com] Phone: (303) 841-9649