FORT COLLINS — Two former prosecutors censured in a botched murder trial and up for a retention vote in the Nov. 2 election are defending their roles in the case.
Larimer County District Judges Terry Gilmore and Jolene Blair told The Coloradoan in Fort Collins last week that they stand behind their actions in the 1999 prosecution of Timothy Masters in a woman’s fatal stabbing. They denied hiding information or conspiring to convict Masters.
The state Supreme Court censured the two in 2008, saying they failed as prosecutors to turn over information to defense attorneys.
Masters’ conviction was overturned the same year after new tests showed that DNA evidence failed to put him at the scene and pointed to other suspects. He was released from prison after serving nearly a decade in the 1987 murder of Peggy Hettrick of Fort Collins.
Larimer County and the city of Fort Collins agreed to pay Masters a combined $10 million to settle lawsuits claiming his civil rights were violated. He has donated $3,000 to a group working to unseat Gilmore and Blair, according to campaign finance filings.
Blair said she and Gilmore weren’t hiding information during the murder trial. She said Masters’ lawyers should have known about the evidence because it was referenced in multiple documents given to them.
In a separate meeting with The Coloradoan, Gilmore said he proceeded with the Masters prosecution only after asking everyone who helped investigate for their input. All said they thought Masters was guilty, he said.
The interviews were the first time the two have talked publicly about the case. An opinion by state ethics regulators gave them permission to speak generally about the case.
Gilmore said he and Blair were censured because the regulators felt they should have pressed police harder to provide all the information.
