Pubdate: [Sat, 01 Mar 1997]
Source: Boulder Weekly (CO)
Author: Ralph And Virginia Kriho

A ruling made by Judge Henry Nieto of Gilpin County, Colorado threatens to
destroy every citizen's right to an impartial trial by jury. In an
unprecedented maneuver, Judge Nieto has prosecuted and convicted a former
juror of contempt of court charges because she "failed to volunteer answers
to questions that weren't asked of her ". The juror who is the victim of
this outrageous decision is my daughter, Laura Kriho.

Laura was the lone hold-out juror in the trial of a 19 year-old girl
charged with possession of methamphetamine. Laura felt that there was not
enough evidence to convict. This infuriated the other juror. One anonymous
juror sent a note to the judge describing statements that my daughter made
in the jury deliberation room (so much for private deliberations).  Based
on only this anonymous note, the presiding judge, Judge Kenneth Barnhill,
declared a mistrial.

Two months later, Laura is charged with contempt of court! Apparently the
judge and prosecutor were so enraged about losing a conviction, that they
decided to take revenge on the juror they held responsible. They found out
who the hold-out juror was and chose to investigate her background. With
sheer delight, I'm sure, they found that 12 years ago Laura was involved in
a drug charge herself. However, they ignored the fact that she received a
deferred sentence, the plea was withdrawn, and no judgement was ever
entered.

Judge Nieto said Laura should have volunteered this information even though
she was never asked. In fact ,however, Laura thought (as we all did) that
her record was wiped clean after her 2 years of community service. So why
would she even think of mentioning it?

There were many improprieties surrounding this case. My legal maneuvering,
Laura was denied a trial-by-jury. She was denied a continuance to try and
raise money to properly prepare a defense. Judge Nieto said this was a
"simple" case and should be dealt with as soon as possible. Her trial took
2 days. The judicial verdict took 4 months.

This verdict must be overturned on appeal! Otherwise, impartial juries will
be a thing of the past. Will anyone ever dare to be the lone hold-out juror
again? I don't think so.

I hope concerned citizens will contribute to Laura's defense fund.
Contributions can be sent to: Laura Kriho Legal Defense Fund, c/o Paul
Grant (defense attorney), Box 1272, Parker, CO 801344. Thank you.

Ralph and Virginia Kriho