Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *Case dismissed w/o prejudice* #105

[Seattle1]

ORDER RE: [D-17] DEFENDANT’S RENEWED MOTION FOR DISCOVERY AND CONTEMPT SANCTIONS AND FORTHWITH HEARING; [D-17A] SUPPLEMENT; [D-17B] SUPPLEMENT; [D-17C] SUPPLEMENT; AND [D-17D] SUPPLEMENT.

https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/11th_Judicial_District/Freemont/Morphew/ORDER%20RE_%20DEFENDANT'S%20RENEWED%20MOTION%20FOR%20DISCOVERY%20AND%20CONTEMPT%20SANCTIONS%20AND%20FORTHWITH%20HEARING%20%20%5BD-17A%5D%20SUPPLEMENT%20%20%5BD-17B%5D%20SUPPLEMENT%20%20%5BD-17-C%5D%20SUPPLEMENT%20%20AND%20%5BD-17D%5D%20SUPPLEMENT.pdf

Take note it's in the footnote at the bottom of the Order dated April 8, 2022, pg 1/20 that the Court did not consider the State's response/rebuttal to the defense Motions in ordering the sanctions outlined in the Order.

Judge Lama just accepted them as truth!

IMO, the defense got exactly what they wanted with Lama's appointment -- a new sheriff in town-- and put everything in the Motions that Judge Murphy had already addressed (not to Iris' liking).

1 However, the Court noted on March 30, 2022 on the record, that it would only consider [D-17] through [D-17d] in this Order as the arguments in those motions are fully briefed at this time.

 

[kittythehare]

Take note it's in the footnote at the bottom of the Order dated April 8, 2022, pg 1/20 that the Court did not consider the State's response/rebuttal to the defense Motions in ordering the sanctions outlined in the Order.

Judge Lama just accepted them as truth!

IMO, the defense got exactly what they wanted with Lama's appointment -- a new sheriff in town-- and put everything in the Motions that Judge Murphy had already addressed (not to Iris' liking).

1 However, the Court noted on March 30, 2022 on the record, that it would only consider [D-17] through [D-17d] in this Order as the arguments in those motions are fully briefed at this time.

also noted Cahill's pet theory regarding the CODIS result.
My impression was that it was his greatest ambition to the exclusion of BM as suspect? Maybe there is more to this..
i don't know because I am speculating?

 

[Seattle1]

also noted Cahill's pet theory regarding the CODIS result.
My impression was that it was his greatest ambition to the exclusion of BM as suspect? Maybe there is more to this..
i don't know because I am speculating?

IMO, Cahill was covering for his own misdeeds that were at the time, unknown to us.

Cahill had no reason to be in contact with IE the evening before he testified at the prelim and when he failed to testify as he was prepped by the prosecutor's office (perhaps IE had inside info on Cahill), he'd already crafted the torch he was going to throw -- blaming the state as filing the charges too soon.

It was all rubbish. And I refuse to revisit this firearm incompetent again. JMO

 

[kittythehare]

Meet Linda Stanley.

Linda Stanley, Candidate for 11th Judicial District DA - by Jan Wondra - Ark Valley Voice

Talking with Linda Stanley, who is running as the Republican candidate for District 11 District Attorney, and you get the sense that she has worked hard,

arkvalleyvoice.com

 

[MountainDad]

IMO, Cahill was covering for his own misdeeds that were at the time, unknown to us.

Cahill had no reason to be in contact with IE the evening before he testified at the prelim and when he failed to testify as he was prepped by the prosecutor's office (perhaps IE had inside info on Cahill), he'd already crafted the torch he was going to throw -- blaming the state as filing the charges too soon.

It was all rubbish. And I refuse to revisit this firearm incompetent again. JMO

He got demoted to the Marijuana division, after ruining this case with his ego and incompetence. Lama resigned (health reasons)and started private practice in Salida, handling DUIs. Jeff Lindsey resigns abruptly after taking the case through the PH. Murphy recuses himself because he knew Barry's girlfriends attorney in the trespassing case that was later dropped. Murphy grants change of venue. Gives the case to Lama. Darn justice is hard with shady people in positions of power

 

[kittythehare]

IMO, Cahill was covering for his own misdeeds that were at the time, unknown to us.

Cahill had no reason to be in contact with IE the evening before he testified at the prelim and when he failed to testify as he was prepped by the prosecutor's office (perhaps IE had inside info on Cahill), he'd already crafted the torch he was going to throw -- blaming the state as filing the charges too soon.

It was all rubbish. And I refuse to revisit this firearm incompetent again. JMO

You know my brain had reduced that chapter to someone in her office doing something stupid with a firearm or something..

I was scrambling hard for a memory last night when I tagged you.

what was interesting but not surprising in my search for obliterated Cahill was the quantity of headlines quoting him alluding to incompetence by DA , the too soon hypotheses..
where is he now I wonder..
Almost obscene and certainly more than enough to cast doubt on her character integrity and reputation.

She does have broad shoulders though and I wish her well and hope she takes up this mantle again. She has paid a helluva personal price for it.

 

[kittythehare]

He got demoted to the Marijuana division, after ruining this case with his ego and incompetence. Lama resigned (health reasons)and started private practice in Salida, handling DUIs. Jeff Lindsey resigns abruptly after taking the case through the PH. Murphy recuses himself because he knew Barry's girlfriends attorney in the trespassing case that was later dropped. Murphy grants change of venue. Gives the case to Lama. Darn justice is hard with shady people in positions of power

that's about the size of it but whether they are shady or truly bewildered with zero attention spans is the question?

who is left apart from Iris?
I never saw the likes of this.
Ever!
Those mountains need to speak soon and loud.

 

[Tumbleweed]

Does the Morphew case have to be tried in the 11th District? I remember a discussion here after the case was dropped without prejudice that perhaps the trial could be moved to a federal venue? Sorry if my memory is wrong.

I'd like to see some advocacy for SM. I wonder what her family must think at this point & if they are interested in pushing for a trial to occur this year.

Are there any options other than waiting on Lindsey to refile?

As I recall, some of us were hopeful that SM would be found on federal land in San Isabel National Forest, because if she was found on federal land, the feds could take over the case.

 

[mrjitty]

Perhaps we are on the same page @mrjitty because we did not take the defense's allegations as the gospel truth (as Judge Lama did-- including his copy and paste direct from the defense motion), but also read the State's response to each of the alleged discovery violations used by Lama to impose sanctions that did not fit the offense (i.e., no State Statutes governing discovery violated).

RSBM

Ok it's been a year, and thanks to the indefatigable work of @Seattle1 I now read again the People's response to the Sanctions. It's been a year so by way of background, 10 of 14 experts were sanctioned and thus blocked from testifying as expert witnesses. State applied to get the core experts reinstated. i.e telematics, cellular, computer

The situation appears to be rather different that how IE advertised it to the judge

1. The key reports were in fact discovered for the prelim 8 months previously or shortly thereafter
2. Defence admits to have reports and disclosures it claimed not to have
3. despite the pattern of violations observed by the previous judge, there was no prejudice here

Basically IE ended up arguing that the reports actually disclosed didn't meet the disclosure requirements (i.e there were no expert opinions disclosed in the report), so the judge then made the sanctions based on Judge's Murphy's observations plus the slightly late filing of the expert CVs

Seattle is correct that this has been badly reported, and people are criticising the DA for a state of affairs that does not exist, but unfortunately the Judge went along with.

Hence my recollection upthread. There is no suggestion the expert reports were not completed - they were completed before the prelim and form the basis of the probable cause! The exception is the DNA which we've discussed before.

IMO the most likely explanation for all of this, apart from IE's usual deceit which didn't work on Murphy but worked on Lama is that the DA is perhaps just too administratively chaotic. Had they had their paperwork more nicely organised, they could have created the paper trail that said 'hey you got everything" and headed this all of at the pass

But at the end of the day, dumb judge gonna dumb judge

Especially it seems incomprehensible to me that the Judge never ruled on the detail of the state's final motion to have this reconsidered. How can it be that he imposed such wild sanctions for reports the defence admits it had all along?

No wonder he was so happy to dismiss the case without prejudice.

 

[mrjitty]

I don't recall all 14 being excluded for no timely report. JMO

You are right - it was 10 of 14 excluded

 

[mrjitty]

Take note it's in the footnote at the bottom of the Order dated April 8, 2022, pg 1/20 that the Court did not consider the State's response/rebuttal to the defense Motions in ordering the sanctions outlined in the Order.

Judge Lama just accepted them as truth!

IMO, the defense got exactly what they wanted with Lama's appointment -- a new sheriff in town-- and put everything in the Motions that Judge Murphy had already addressed (not to Iris' liking).

1 However, the Court noted on March 30, 2022 on the record, that it would only consider [D-17] through [D-17d] in this Order as the arguments in those motions are fully briefed at this time.

Yeah this is wild.

The Judge got hoodwinked big time.

 

[mrjitty]

That might be a plausible explanation if this was something that had only happened once, though even then, proper oversight and management should prevent it. But it keeps happening. Why wouldn't LS just fire the person sabotaging her cases? She has to know whose responsibility it was to handle discovery for each of these cases.

I think it's way, way more likely this is just a badly managed office and it's a systemic problem. Lack of resources could certainly be an issue, but, unlike a PD's office, a DA's office has a lot of control over the number of cases they file, so even that isn't much of an excuse.

The only other explanation I can think of is that they have an intentional strategy of trying to withhold required discovery as long as possible to hamstring the defense, and it has backfired on them a couple of times. But that seems less likely to me because it would be insanely stupid to withhold crucial reports after you were warned by the judge that you would not get another extension.

BIB

Putting to one side IE's bad faith arguments, IMO this is the likely reason the State was exposed to this procedural sleight of hand. This was in the midst of Omicron. Time frames for things blew out. On top of any preexisting bureaucratic issues.

I think were the state more proactive in writing 'letters to the judge' in its case management (i.e. memo's clearly outlining key discoveries), this would never have happened. We can't see what they actually did.

What remains most disturbing to me is the judge seemed to accept key contentions form the defence which were incorrect or misleading.

The Cell evidence is a good example. The defence claimed never to have received a report, yet had it before the Prelim! The expert produced an updated report which was late and thus could be validly excluded, but sanctioning the expert is insane!

 

[mrjitty]

IMO, this was an argument Iris was very good at. The defense had the potential witness list prior to the preliminary hearing in Aug & Sept 2021 and even then Iris wanted the court to order the prosecutor to tailor the list to her liking. ( Obviously, Murphy wasn't having it).

Not one potential expert was unknown to the defense since the prelim and this was no trial by ambush.

Don't have time to track my notes but it was not at all as the defense portrayed and Lama accepted. JMO

Right - this was basically all nonsense.

The telematics is a great example. The defence produced telematics data at the prelim and argued about telematics. Then they argue they don't have the report, expert details and the data?

it makes no sense?

 

[Seattle1]

The Cell evidence is a good example. The defence claimed never to have received a report, yet had it before the Prelim! The expert produced an updated report which was late and thus could be validly excluded, but sanctioning the expert is insane!

^^rsbm
I remember this hearing very clearly. Judge Murphy immediately shot IE down (another request for sanctions) by reminding her that the defense not being able to read the cell report was not the equivalent of the defense not receiving the report from the prosecution. But not Judge Lama -- he swallowed it and asked for seconds! MOO

 

[mrjitty]

^^rsbm
I remember this hearing very clearly. Judge Murphy immediately shot IE down (another request for sanctions) by reminding her that the defense not being able to read the cell report was not the equivalent of the defense not receiving the report from the prosecution. But not Judge Lama -- he swallowed it and asked for seconds! MOO

Yes - this is all very frustrating and annoying.

Especially it is annoying that the idea has been established that the prosecution did not supply the expert reports when even the defence ended up conceding that point. Indeed the defence seems to have claimed they should have received other, improved reports!

 

[mrjitty]

Take note it's in the footnote at the bottom of the Order dated April 8, 2022, pg 1/20 that the Court did not consider the State's response/rebuttal to the defense Motions in ordering the sanctions outlined in the Order.

Judge Lama just accepted them as truth!

IMO, the defense got exactly what they wanted with Lama's appointment -- a new sheriff in town-- and put everything in the Motions that Judge Murphy had already addressed (not to Iris' liking).

1 However, the Court noted on March 30, 2022 on the record, that it would only consider [D-17] through [D-17d] in this Order as the arguments in those motions are fully briefed at this time.

What is remarkable about this order April 8, is Lama simply refers to the hearing March 10 where he found the discovery violations and issued oral rulings sanctioning the experts - but i don't see anywhere in his written judgement, what specific violations in respect of the key experts he found.

Like @Seattle1 says, he seems to have simply believed IE.

On 7 April, the State finally makes a detailed argument in respect of the core experts that none of this is true but it seems to have been too late

So we end up with the bizarre situation where the key experts (telematics, cellular, computer, DNA, Codis) were sanctioned despite the judge noting any possible prejudice had been cured and any violations being technical

Indeed the judge himself states this was simply punishment on the State to deter future violations.

Sigh.

 

[Seattle1]

What is remarkable about this order April 8, is Lama simply refers to the hearing March 10 where he found the discovery violations and issued oral rulings sanctioning the experts - but i don't see anywhere in his written judgement, what specific violations in respect of the key experts he found.

Like @Seattle1 says, he seems to have simply believed IE.

On 7 April, the State finally makes a detailed argument in respect of the core experts that none of this is true but it seems to have been too late

So we end up with the bizarre situation where the key experts (telematics, cellular, computer, DNA, Codis) were sanctioned despite the judge noting any possible prejudice had been cured and any violations being technical

Indeed the judge himself states this was simply punishment on the State to deter future violations.

Sigh.

I think the prosecution next asked the Court to meet them halfway and partially reconsider the Order striking the expert witnesses but Judge Lama had the defense motion before him seeking to dismiss the charges against BM, heavily steeped in defense Cahill speak, and did not give it any consideration. Tragic.

 

[mrjitty]

I think the prosecution next asked the Court to meet them halfway and partially reconsider the Order striking the expert witnesses but Judge Lama had the defense motion before him seeking to dismiss the charges against BM, heavily steeped in defense Cahill speak, and did not give it any consideration. Tragic.

Yeah - fiasco

I cannot understand how the Judge could maintain sanctions on experts like Telematics / Cellular when on March 10 the defence claimed not to have the reports but that turned out to be untrue????

Judge seems to have said he didn't need to conduct a hearing on the prosecution's 7 April motion because it was "fully briefed' yet we know that what the judge was told was not true.

Overall I feel the issue is the prosecution were simply not tooled up for the March 10 hearing, and by the time they put this motion together pointing out the absurdity, it was too late.

So it all rather goes to bureaucratic failings and resourcing rather than problems with the evidence or any great conspiracy

The Judge got the wool pulled over his eyes by a well resourced defence team that were happy to make bad faith arguments

 

[Kittybunny]

Yeah - fiasco

I cannot understand how the Judge could maintain sanctions on experts like Telematics / Cellular when on March 10 the defence claimed not to have the reports but that turned out to be untrue????

Judge seems to have said he didn't need to conduct a hearing on the prosecution's 7 April motion because it was "fully briefed' yet we know that what the judge was told was not true.

Overall I feel the issue is the prosecution were simply not tooled up for the March 10 hearing, and by the time they put this motion together pointing out the absurdity, it was too late.

So it all rather goes to bureaucratic failings and resourcing rather than problems with the evidence or any great conspiracy

The Judge got the wool pulled over his eyes by a well resourced defence team that were happy to make bad faith arguments

Aaaaaaaand now I'm furious all over again. It feels like fate is conspiring against justice for Suzanne. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. All the cards fell against her.

Who will speak out and stand tall and cry for justice for Suzanne?

 

[kittythehare]

Aaaaaaaand now I'm furious all over again. It feels like fate is conspiring against justice for Suzanne. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. All the cards fell against her.

we will.
Back to the beginning again and out with the maps and think like he thought after he chased her around and used a dart on her allegedly..
where did he take her?
I know we have looked at it a million times but let's look again..