Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *Case dismissed w/o prejudice* *found in 2023* #115

[Seattle1]

Grand Jury indictment definitely has some advantages.

Prosecutors in Idaho, expecting a defense of Bryan Kohberger no less aggressive than Morphew's, procured an indictment that superseded the information/complaint upon which Kohberger was initially arrested. They didn't avoid the entire blizzard of motions but they did avoid the kind of games lawyers can play with witnesses in preliminary hearings, before an ongoing investigation is entirely complete.

But convening and supporting a grand jury is expensive and burdensome, especially for small, resource poor counties. In Idaho, the state stepped in to provide logistical support and top legal talent as lead counsel, which IMO has prevented the local prosecutor from being overwhelmed as Stanley and company were. It also enabled use of the grand jury.

The Colorado AG has a special prosecutions unit that similarly supports rural DAs. Most recently, the team participated in the prosecution of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who was convicted of crimes associated with her effort to support false election denial theories. I don't believe DA Kelly will hesitate to bring in the AG's team and let the AG share the credit for the conviction of Morphew. I am surprised that DA Stanley and her assistant Lindsey didn't call them: just one of many missed opportunities in a leaderless office.

All MOO.

No, not a missed opportunity.

I thought OP may have been here (under a different user name) when we discussed LS attempt to seat a grand jury for this case but the team tagged by OAG to present evidence to the grand jury in rural Colorado was occupied in La Plata County with the prosecution of Mark Redwine (who incidentally was also indicted by a grand jury). Ring a bell now?

Nonetheless, I recall the special deputy, Fred Johnson, Boulder, who handled the overall investigation and presentation to the grand jury, a colleague of Ann Kelly.

Also, LS did not give up -- on Sept 5, 2023, she announced the 11th Judicial District empaneled its first grand jury re. a cold case, 1967 murder of 14 month old Roxanne Archuleta, and indicted Keith Emmanuel Smith of Florence on one count of second degree murder.

Fred Johnson, Special Deputy

11th JD: DA Stanley Announces Indictment

 

[Tragg]

No, not a missed opportunity.

I thought OP may have been here (under a different user name) when we discussed LS attempt to seat a grand jury for this case but the team tagged by OAG to present evidence to the grand jury in rural Colorado was occupied in La Plata County with the prosecution of Mark Redwine (who incidentally was also indicted by a grand jury). Ring a bell now?

Nonetheless, I recall the special deputy, Fred Johnson, Boulder, who handled the overall investigation and presentation to the grand jury, a colleague of Ann Kelly.

Also, LS did not give up -- on Sept 5, 2023, she announced the 11th Judicial District empaneled its first grand jury re. a cold case, 1967 murder of 14 month old Roxanne Archuleta, and indicted Keith Emmanuel Smith of Florence on one count of second degree murder.

Fred Johnson, Special Deputy

11th JD: DA Stanley Announces Indictment

I was observing but not participating in WS when the La Plata County case came up for discussion. Thanks for reminding us that a prosecutor from Boulder helped to run the La Plata County grand jury that indicted Mark Redwine in 2017. If I recall correctly, another attorney joined him as an appointed special deputy DA to lead the trial in 2021.

I didn't know that DA Stanley convened a grand jury in 2023, and that it issued an indictment in another case. I hope the county continues to support the use of grand juries. So thanks for providing that information as well.

But I am not sure how this refutes my intended points, which were that: rural counties often need outside assistance to handle major cases; the Colorado AG's team is a resource that DA Kelley can call upon as other rural DA's have; that it has been effective in such prosecutions before; that IMO she will not hesitate to call for the AG's help if needed; and that DA Stanley's failure to do so in the Morphew case seems (strictly IMO, of course) to have been a missed opportunity. I appreciate your response and apologize if my post wasn't clear.

 

[Seattle1]

But I am not sure how this refutes my intended points, which were that: rural counties often need outside assistance to handle major cases; the Colorado AG's team is a resource that DA Kelley can call upon as other rural DA's have; that it has been effective in such prosecutions before; that IMO she will not hesitate to call for the AG's help if needed; and that DA Stanley's failure to do so in the Morphew case seems (strictly IMO, of course) to have been a missed opportunity. I appreciate your response and apologize if my post wasn't clear.

^^rsbm

To be clear, I was not refuting that rural counties need outside assistance to handle major cases. Just the opposite. What I did refute and repeat is OP's claim that Stanley and Lindsey missed an opportunity to use the OAG team, and provided this was in fact their first choice but were denied the OAG team (to empanel & present to grand jury) because the OAG team was engaged prosecuting Redwine. Take note Johnson was also the lead prosecutor during the 2021 trial. MOO

 

[Tragg]

^^rsbm

To be clear, I was not refuting that rural counties need outside assistance to handle major cases. Just the opposite. What I did refute and repeat is OP's claim that Stanley and Lindsey missed an opportunity to use the OAG team, and provided this was in fact their first choice but were denied the OAG team (to empanel & present to grand jury) because the OAG team was engaged prosecuting Redwine. Take note Johnson was also the lead prosecutor during the 2021 trial. MOO

Thanks for clarifying! The link you provided shows that attorney Johnson was a Boulder county deputy at the time of his work with the grand jury. Do you have a link showing that he and the other special deputy assigned to the Redwine case comprised the AG's special prosecutions team during 2020-2021? Also, I understood from the findings of fact recited in the state disciplinary decision that Stanley made no effort to recruit outside help for her prosecution team. If Lindsey requested AG assistance and was refused I can only apologize. Do you have a link to that report? The extensive factual findings of the state disciplinary panel do not mention such a request being made, either by the DA or Senior Deputy Lindsey, at any point. Perhaps it was made by Stanley's predecessor? In any case, I missed coverage of the request.