Perfect Murder, Perfect Town - Lawrence Schiller [262]
Hunter greeted the prospective jurors with a classroom lecture tracing the grand jury process back to 1166, during the reign of England’s King Henry I, as a means of finding “twelve true and lawful men” to provide a safeguard against prosecutors’ abuse of their legal powers. The goal, Hunter said, was to pick people who could set any prejudices or biases aside and render impartial judgment “in any matter that my office deems appropriate.”
After the break, Pete Hofstrom introduced himself.
“Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, my name is Peter Hofstrom. This is a process of asking questions to obtain information to help us in making judgments.”
Hofstrom worked his way across both rows of the jury box, singling out the candidates one by one, asking a few personal questions, aiming to get a layer or two beneath what they’d written on the forms. When he finished, Judge Bellipanni dismissed twenty-one potential jurors, including Joel Ripmaster, who had handled the sale of the Ramseys’ home.
Bellipanni and Hunter’s team continued after lunch with a closed-door voir dire of the remaining candidates. Next to the judge’s chambers was a large meeting room, with windows looking toward the Flatirons on one side and a long conference table in the center. Each prospective juror took a turn at the head of the table, the judge to his left and Hunter, Hofstrom, DeMuth, Maguire, Nagel, and Smit around the sides.
The judge and the DA wanted to know what they knew about the Ramseys and the case. When the judge asked, “Are you aware of the conflict between the district attorney and the police department?” most people answered yes. When one juror hesitated, Hunter patted him on the arm as if to say, “It’s OK.” Another person said he knew that the police hadn’t turned over some evidence to the DA. One prospective juror, Michael Morris, a photographer who had taken pictures of Access Graphics controller Susan Richart, told the judge that Richart had described Ramsey as a man who could get in front of a thousand people and seem as if he was talking one on one.
Hunter wanted to know if the prospective jurors listened to Peter Boyles or watched Geraldo Rivera. Most said no.
Could you take everything you have heard and put it aside? asked Hofstrom. He asked the same question repeatedly in different ways. Most said yes.
Then Hunter wanted to know if they had any theories about how the murder took place. One juror said, “How could you not have one?”
For most prospective jurors, the questioning was over in less than ten minutes.
At the end of the day, when the closed-door session was over, Judge Bellipanni excused all but seventeen people. They would be the twelve grand jurors—four men and eight women—plus five alternates—four women and one man.
Those who had been selected were photographed by the assembled media as they left the Justice Center. The foreman was James Please, of Boulder, and his assistant foreperson was Loretta Resnikoff, also of Boulder. The ten other jurors were Elizabeth Annecharico, Boulder; Michelle Czopek, Superior; Francis Diekman, Longmont; Josephine Hampton, Lafayette; Martin W. Kordas, Jr., Lafayette; Susan LeFever, Boulder; Barbara McGrath-Arnold, Boulder; Martin Pierce, Longmont; Tracey Vallad, Longmont; Jonathan N. Webb, Louisville. The alternates were Janice McCallister, Longmont; Polly Palmer, Niwot; Marcia Richardson, Boulder; Theresa Van Fossen, Broomfield; and Morton Wegman-French, Boulder.
It wasn’t long before the media learned that Alex Hunter wasn’t personally returning their calls and Suzanne Laurion, the DA’s press representative, was becoming his point person. On April 24, Laurion had the following conversation with a writer.
LAURION: The media liaison doesn’t ad-lib anymore. I used to ad-lib through answers all the time. Now I clear them with four or five people. “What is this quote doing in the paper?” It’s not that people are being tyrants at all. It’s more of a very conservative approach to communication. Even more conservative than in the past. And so the notion of one deputy