Time: Tue Sep 16 13:07:44 1997
by usr09.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id GAA13071;
Tue, 16 Sep 1997 06:01:49 -0700 (MST)
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 1997 06:01:39 -0700
To: Jury Rights Project <jrights@cygnus.com>
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: Kriho Appeal Filed / ACLU & CCDB Support Appeal
What is the docket number for the appeal?
Thank you.
/s/ Paul Mitchell
http://supremelaw.com
At 11:24 PM 9/15/97 -0600, you wrote:
>>From the Jury Rights Project
>
>For immediate release: September 15, 1997
>
>Reversal of Conviction Sought in Juror Case
>ACLU and CCDB Support Kriho's Appeal
>
>[Denver] -- Opening briefs were filed Monday with the Colorado
>Court of Appeals by Paul Grant, on behalf of his client, former
>juror Laura Kriho. The appeal seeks to reverse Kriho's conviction
>for contempt of court for failing to volunteer information that
>was not requested of her during jury selection.
>
>The Colorado chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the
>Colorado Criminal Defense Bar both filed amicus (friend of the
>court) briefs in support of Kriho's appeal. Neither organization
>could be reached for comment Monday.
>
>Kriho was prosecuted after she was the lone holdout for acquittal
>on a jury in a methamphetamine possession case in Gilpin County in
>May 1996. During jury deliberations, Kriho allegedly criticized
>the drug laws, discussed sentencing consequences for the
>defendant, and discussed the doctrine of jury nullification, the
>historic power of juries to vote according to their conscience.
>
>Kriho was tried in October 1996 by First Judicial District Chief
>Judge Henry Nieto. Nine of her fellow jurors testified about
>their discussions during jury deliberations. In February 1997,
>Judge Nieto convicted Kriho for failing to volunteer information
>to the court during jury selection. Judge Nieto ruled that Kriho
>should have volunteered the facts that she supported reform of
>hemp and marijuana laws, that she was arrested (but not convicted)
>in 1985 for LSD possession, and that she was familiar with the
>doctrine of jury nullification. Kriho was cleared of the perjury
>aspect of the contempt charge. The judge admitted that she had
>not been asked any questions about those issues. Kriho was fined
>$1200.
>
>"A juror cannot be put on trial for improper deliberations, as
>Laura was. This will destroy the independence of the jury
>system," Grant says. "The purpose of the jury is to resist
>government oppression. A jury cannot function if the eyes and
>ears of the government are in the jury room with them. Laura is
>not guilty of anything more than following her conscience and
>standing up for what she believed was right."
>
>"I don't want my conviction to make anyone afraid to serve on a
>jury or to deliberate freely when they do serve on a jury," Kriho
>says. "Hopefully, my experience will educate people about the
>history, the power, and the importance of juries. "
>
>Legal experts say the last time a juror was prosecuted based on
>evidence of jury room deliberations was over 300 years ago.
>
>The Colorado Attorney General's office will file a response to the
>appeal within the next few months.
> ###
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========================================================================
Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness
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