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| Camera reporter sues Boulder DA seeking release of Ramsey indictment |
The Camera reported earlier this year that the grand jury voted to indict the slain 6-year-old's parents on charges of child abuse resulting in death, but that then-District Attorney Alex Hunter refused to sign the document and prosecute the Ramseys.
Camera reporter Charlie Brennan and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed the lawsuit in Boulder District Court on Wednesday afternoon, citing the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act in an effort to compel Garnett to release the indictment.
"The plaintiffs believe... that the indictment is a criminal justice record that reflects official action by the grand jury, and accordingly that it is subject to mandatory disclosure upon request," attorney Thomas B. Kelley wrote in the complaint. "Alternatively, they argue the indictment should be disclosed to the public because such disclosure would serve the public interest in government transparency and not be contrary to the public interest nor cause undue adverse effect upon the privacy of the individual."
The Camera is not a plaintiff in the complaint.
Garnett previously has rejected two requests by the Camera and Brennan for the indictment under the Colorado Open Records Act.
"We will respond to the motion in a pleading in court," Garnett said Wednesday. "Protecting the integrity of the grand jury process is important to every district attorney."
On March 13, the Camera sent Garnett a request, under the open records act, for, "A true bill, or indictment, returned by the Boulder County grand jury in October 1999, pursuant to that body's investigations and deliberations into the December 1996 death of JonBenet Ramsey."
Deputy District Attorney Karen Lorenz on March 18 denied the request, saying the proceedings of the grand jury were secret and disclosing the documents would be contrary to Colorado law and public interest.
On June 27, Kelley, the attorney representing Brennan and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, sent another letter to Garnett's office asking him to reconsider releasing the indictment. On July 1, Sean Finn, Garnett's chief trial deputy and custodian of records, once again denied the request.
The Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act requires the court to conduct a hearing on such a lawsuit "at the earliest practical time."
Six-year-old JonBenet was found dead Dec. 26, 1996 in the basement of her family's home, 755 15th St., several hours after Patsy Ramsey called 911 to say her daughter was missing and there was a ransom note.
In October 1999, more than a year after the case went to a grand jury, then-D.A. Hunter announced that the grand jury investigation had come to an end and that no charges would be filed due to a lack of evidence.
But in January of this year, Brennan reported in the Camera that members of the grand jury confirmed they voted to indict both John and Patsy Ramsey on charges of child abuse resulting in death and that Hunter refused to sign the indictment, believing he could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
When charged as "knowingly or recklessly," child abuse resulting in death is a Class II felony that carries a potential sentence of four to 48 years in prison. The statute of limitations on that charge in Colorado is three years from the date of the crime.
Hunter did not return calls for comment for this story on Wednesday.
The Ramseys and their now-adult son Burke were exonerated in the case in July 2008 by then-District Attorney Mary Lacy.
The Ramseys moved to Atlanta in 1997. Patsy Ramsey died in 2006 at the age of 49 after a battle with ovarian cancer.
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