COLORADO SPRINGS — After more than a week of deliberations, jurors found Jereme Lamberth guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting of undercover Colorado Springs police officer Jared Jensen.
The verdict was announced about 5 p.m. Friday. Deliberations began at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 6 after nearly five weeks of testimony.
The jury rejected the prosecution’s claim that Lamberth’s actions were premeditated. Instead, jurors convicted Lamberth of “knowingly causing the death” of another. Lamberth, 32, faces a maximum 48 years in prison for second-degree murder, but because he has prior felony convictions, he could be sentenced to as much as 192 years in prison.
The conviction, said District Attorney John Newsome, means “the defendant dies in prison.”
Public defenders Bill Martinez and Sheilagh McAteer said the jury did its job.
“We’re pleased with the verdict, obviously. First-degree murder would have resulted in a life sentence for Jereme. We respect the jury. We certainly respect the effort that they put into their deliberations, obviously they were at it for a long time,” Martinez said. “Obviously, we would have hoped for an acquittal, but we’re not done. We’ll still go through the appeals.”
Jensen, 30, was trying to arrest Lamberth, who allegedly stabbing his sister 13 times Feb. 2, 2006.
Prosecutors said Lamberth knew he was wanted by police. After the stabbing, he withdrew $1,000 from a bank account. He purchased a .44-caliber Magnum revolver and ammunition. He parked his car and took the bus to avoid capture by police and, in his wallet, he had a newspaper article that said police were looking for him.
He was seated at a bus stop when Jensen approached. During the trial, prosecutors Amy Mullaney and Diana May said Jensen could see a bus coming, and he acted quickly.
Defense attorneys contended that Lamberth acted in self defense. They said Lamberth did not know that Jensen was a police officer. He was afraid that his sister’s boyfriend, a former soldier, would harm him.
A key point during the trial was whether Jensen’s police badge — worn on a chain around his neck — was outside his sweatshirt or tucked inside it.
Jensen’s family attended each day of the trial.
“This was the last thing we could do for Jared and so we, as a family, had tried to stay strong. We loved Jared very much. I guess that says it; we loved Jared very much,” said Deb Hudson, Jensen’s mother.
Olav Chaney, Jensen’s partner who was one of the first officers on the scene, said police officers make split-second decisions every day. Jensen, seeing the bus coming, attempted to arrest Lamberth before backup arrived.
“He did something he had to do. . . . He was a hero,” Chaney said.
Lamberth still faces charges of possession of a weapon by a previous offender and attempted murder charges for the alleged assault of his sister.
