Potential juror No. 1 sat in the courtroom and answered questions posed by a judge whom the juror had appointed to the bench.
Yes, former Gov. Bill Ritter told Denver District Court Judge Ken Laff, he thought he could be fair in deciding the drug case.
Fair, even though Ritter knew the prosecutor in the case — in fact, had hired him when he was Denver’s district attorney. Fair, even though Ritter’s nephew works for the current DA. Fair, even though Ritter knew about half of the witnesses in the case.
And fair, even though Ritter hired Laff as a prosecutor in 2000 and appointed him to the bench in 2008. Ritter’s term as governor ended in January, and he now oversees an energy consortium at Colorado State University.
“(Laff) said the fact that I appointed him was not going to be any reason for me not to serve,” Ritter said. “The judge wanted to demonstrate for the jury that no one gets out of jury duty easily. I had as many conflicts as a juror could have.”
Laff said Ritter told the court he had an important meeting that week but understood jury service was important, too, and he would cancel his meeting if selected.
But what got Ritter out of jury duty that June 20 was a private conversation he later had in the judge’s office with the defendant and the attorneys for both sides present.
“I had to tell the judge that the very first person I ever prosecuted as an assistant district attorney in 1981 shared the same name as the defendant in this case. It was a bootlegging case, and we later prosecuted him on other charges,” Ritter said.
“I knew it wasn’t the same guy, but it could have been a relative and I just wanted to make sure they knew.”
In fact, the judge said, the defendant appeared to know the person Ritter was talking about, referring to that person by a nickname.
Asked why he requested a private meeting with the judge, Ritter said he didn’t want to taint other potential jurors.
He was dismissed from jury service.
“I think Bill could be fair, but it’s a perception issue,” the judge said.
Afterward, the judge said, jurors asked him how often “celebrities” were picked to hear cases.
“They were excited to be on the panel with Bill,” Laff said. “I explained he got off not because he was too important to be on a jury — no one’s too important — but there was a concern given his past role he might be perceived as being biased.”
By the way, the trial lasted two days. The defendant was found not guilty.
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327 or lbartels@denverpost.com
