FORT COLLINS, Colo.—The case of a Fort Collins police officer accused of lying in the investigation of a man whose murder conviction was overturned may be heard by a judge from another county from where the officer was indicted.
Larimer District County Chief Judge Stephen Schapanski said in a letter Friday to the state court administrator that all of the district’s judges recused themselves from the case because two fellow judges from the county may testify in the case. Judges Jolene Blair and Terry Gilmore prosecuted Timothy Masters in 1999 for the 1987 slaying of Peggy Hettrick. Masters was released from prison in 2008 after tests showed the DNA at the crime scene did not belong to him.
Fort Collins police Lt. James Broderick faces eight counts of first-degree perjury for his role in Masters’ prosecution.
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Information from: Fort Collins Coloradoan,
