Update on Laura Kriho Case
Tuesday, March 21, 2000
[Denver] - On Monday, the Colorado Supreme Court denied petitions for writs of certiorari
in the case of Laura Kriho. Kriho was prosecuted for contempt of court after she was the
lone holdout in a methamphetamine possession case. Kriho's conviction was overturned by
the Colorado Court of Appeals last April and remanded for a new trial.
Both Paul Grant, attorney for Laura Kriho, and the state Attorney General had asked the
Colorado Supreme Court to review the case. Grant asked the Court to recognize the
importance of jury rights and prohibit any retrial of Kriho. The Attorney General's office
asked the Court to reinstate Kriho's conviction. Both requests were denied on Monday.
Kriho was tried in October 1996 by Gilpin County District Court Judge Henry Nieto. In
February 1997, after a four month deliberation process, Nieto convicted Kriho of a
precedent-setting new crime: failing to volunteer answers to questions that were not
actually asked of her during jury selection.
Last April, the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed Kriho's conviction for contempt and
remanded the case for a new trial. The Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court
improperly invaded the secrecy of the jury room by allowing testimony from other jurors
about jury room deliberations.
The Court of Appeals defended Kriho, saying that jurors "are to be held to the
question asked, and not to some other question that should have been asked." Despite
this, the Court of Appeals said that Gilpin District Court could retry Kriho on the
"one remaining allegation" that Kriho intentionally failed to volunteer
information during jury selection about a 12-year-old deferred judgment (legal acquittal)
for possession of LSD that was supposed to be wiped from her record, even though she
wasn't asked any questions relating to it. The Court of Appeals admitted that "there
exist certain ambiguities concerning the legal effect of a deferred judgment" and
that, if Kriho is retried, the prosecutors will have to show that her failure to disclose
the information was done deliberately to obstruct justice.
Paul Grant says, "I'm disappointed that the Colorado Supreme Court didn't take the
opportunity to correct the impression that Colorado jurors can be criminally prosecuted
for acting independently in the jury room. I hope that District Attorney Dave Thomas has
the good judgment to drop this matter now rather than continue with a prosecution that can
accomplish nothing
worthwhile."
Kriho says, "I answered all the questions they asked me during jury selection
truthfully and honestly. I didn't think to volunteer information about my deferred
judgement because I had been told at the time that the charge would be wiped from my
record. I didn't try to sneak on to the jury - my only 'agenda' that day was to get out of
jury duty and go home. My mistake was in not understanding that I was under an obligation
to read the minds of the prosecutor and judge and volunteer answers to questions that they
didn't ask."
When asked about the possibilities of a new trial, Grant says, "To retry Laura would
send the wrong message to other jurors, chilling their willingness to deliberate freely in
the jury room for fear of later prosecution. For that reason alone, this case should be
dropped."
The decision on whether to retry Kriho will be made by Dave Thomas, District Attorney for
the 1st Judicial District (Gilpin and Jefferson Counties).
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Donations to help Laura pay the costs of her defense can be made to:
Laura Kriho Legal Defense Fund
P.O. Box 729
Nederland, CO 80466
Your support is very much appreciated!
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