SANTA ROSA, Calif.-
A judge refused to unseal police documents in the child pornography case against former JonBenet Ramsey slaying suspect John Mark Karr, whose attorneys are fighting to have the misdemeanor charges tossed out.
The Press Democrat of Santa Rosa had sought to view the documents in the case against the high-profile suspect, but Sonoma County Judge Cerena Wong agreed with prosecutors who argued it could harm the investigation and prejudice potential jurors.
Authorities said they found five images of child porn on Karr’s computer when he was arrested in April 2001. He fled before he went to trial. Investigators conceded they lost Karr’s computer some time in the past five years, but claim to have found copies of the data recently.
Karr’s trial was originally scheduled to start Monday, but was postponed for further hearings Tuesday on defense motions to dismiss the case or throw out newly revealed computer data.
Investigators said they think they have other computer equipment linked to Karr that could contain more than 1,000 other images.
Prosecutors “don’t know how the images got there,” defense lawyer Robert Amparan said. “They don’t know whether Mr. Karr knew they were there. They don’t know when if ever they were viewed.”
Sonoma County Deputy County Counsel Anne Keck told the judge the FBI was comparing images of teenagers found on Karr’s computer equipment with a national database of child porn victims.
She said the digital images were not related to child pornography charges against Karr.
But FBI spokesman Joe Schadler later said the bureau’s role in the Karr investigation had ended, and was limited to providing expert testimony and forensic analysis of five pictures discovered on Karr’s computer in 2001.
“We’re not doing any further forensic work,” he said.
Keck did not immediately return phone messages to The Associated Press seeking comment.
Karr, 41, who was extradited from Colorado last month to face the five-year-old charges, appeared briefly at the hearing, looking tired and worn.
Karr has rejected a plea deal that would have put him on probation. Prosecutors have conceded he probably won’t serve more time if convicted because he already spent several months in jail awaiting trial five years ago. They said they want Karr to register as a sex offender.
The former teacher was arrested in Thailand last month after suggesting he killed JonBenet, a 6-year-old beauty queen, in her Boulder, Colo., home in 1996. The Ramsey case quickly collapsed after DNA failed to connect him to the crime.
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