Pubdate: Fri, 11 Aug 2000
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2000 The Denver Post
Contact:  1560 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202
Fax: (303) 820.1502
Website: http://www.denverpost.com/
Forum: http://www.denverpost.com/voice/voice.htm
Author: George Lane

JUROR IN '96 DRUG CASE CLEARED OF CONTEMPT

Aug. 11, 2000 - All charges have been dismissed against a former Gilpin
County juror who was found in contempt of court in 1997. She had failed to
reveal during jury selection for a drug trial that she had been arrested for
LSD possession and that she was politically active in the effort to legalize
marijuana.

Laura Kriho was the lone juror to hold out for acquittal in a 1996 trial of
a 19-year-old woman charged with possession of methamphetamine. She had not
told court officials about an arrest in 1984 for LSD possession, a deferred
judgment in that case and her involvement with the Colorado Hemp Initiative
Project.

The judge declared a mistrial after another juror informed him that Kriho
had talked to fellow jurors about nullification - a juror's right to ignore
the facts in a case and issue a verdict based on the morality and validity
of the law.

Kriho, now 36, was fined $1,200 for obstructing justice by failing to admit
her political beliefs and background during jury selection.

In arguing against that action, Kriho's attorney, Paul Grant, noted that she
was never asked about her beliefs during the jury selection process and that
the court had invented a new crime - "not willfully disclosing something."

"It's a new name for perjury," he said at the time.

In April 1999, the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed Kriho's
contempt-of-court conviction.

"The Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court had improperly invaded the
secrecy of the jury room by allowing testimony from other jurors about jury
room deliberations," according to a statement released by Grant.

Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar appealed that ruling to the Colorado
Supreme Court, but the state's highest court refused to consider the case.

After rejection by the Supreme Court, prosecutors had one remaining option:
retry Kriho for not revealing her 12-year-old deferred judgment for the LSD
arrest. However, District Attorney Dave Thomas decided against another trial
and filed a motion with the court for the case to be dismissed.

District Judge Thomas Woodford granted the motion Aug. 4, and Grant received
notice this week.

"This ends it forever," the defense attorney said Thursday.

"I am so glad this is finally over," Kriho said in the statement released by
Grant. "I hope that by fighting and winning against this persecution that I
have helped protect other jurors from going through what I did.

"The jury is meant to be the conscience of the community," the statement
said. "Jurors should be free to deliberate and to vote however they deem
fit, without fear of later prosecution if they vote against the government's
case."
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