In a case that threatens the trial by jury system, a Gilpin County, CO, juror was found guilty of contempt of court for deliberating "improperly" in a jury room. This case was the first of its kind in more than 300 years.

Laura Kriho, the juror, was the lone holdout for acquittal on the jury in a drug possession case on May 13, 1996.

The defendant was a 19-year-old femal charged with felony possession of methamphetamine. Kriho and the other jurors listened to two days of testimony.

Before deliberations began, presiding Judge Kenneth Barnhill gave the jury some instructions on how to reach a verdict. He said the jury was to determine if the prosecution had proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant had knowingly possessed methamphetamine. He also instructed the jury to use their prior knowledge and experiences, but not to consider possible sentences the defendant would face. These instructions were given in the spirit of guidelines and were not identified as court orders.

Most jurors wanted to convict on the possession charge, but Kriho argued that the prosecution had not proved that the defendant knew she possessed the methamphetamine. Kriho had reasonable doubts.

In the heat of the deliberations, Kriho blurted out that the defendant could receive several years in jail if the jury convicted her. Kriho also made remarks about jury nullification and the historic right of jurors to vote according to their conscience.

These statements, and Kriho's refusal to change her vote, angered another juror so much that, without the knowledge of other jurors, he sent a note to Judge Barnhill. The note asked if a juror could be disqualified for discussing the sentence the defendant would face. Based on this anonymous note, and with no other investigation, Judge Barnhill declared a mistrial.

Prosecutor James Stanley was so enraged at losing an easy conviction that his investigator inquired of other jurors, off the record, who the holdout juror was. He found out Kriho's name and investigated her background. He discovered that Kriho had received a deferred sentence on the charge of possession of LSD in 1984. After Kriho completed two years of probation, the charge was supposed to be wiped from her record. Kriho believed it had been.

Stanley also discovered that Kriho was an organizer for the Colorado Hemp Initiative Project, a group trying to reform cannabis and hemp laws in Colorado.

Based on this information and interviews with other jurors, Kriho was charged with contempt of court on Aug. 16, 1996.

Kriho was pronounced guilty of contempt of court in mid-February. Kriho faces up to six months in jail and fines. A date was not set for her sentencing.

The nine-page ruling was issued by First Judicial District Chief Judge Henry Nieto who presided over Kriho's trial. The ruling states that Kriho "deliberately and willfully withheld and concealed information which was relevant and important to selecting a fair and impartial jury, and that Ms. Kriho did so with the intent of serving on the jury for the purpose of obstructing justice."

Judge Nieto ruled that Kriho, during jury selection, deliberately withheld her attitude about certain drug laws, her involvement in hemp legalization activities, and her knowledge of a juror's power to determine questions of law as well as fact.

By failing to volunteer this information, Kriho "obstructed the process of selecting a fair and impartial jury."

Kriho was never asked questions concerning any of these factors during jury selection.

"What it comes down to is that the courts can now use police power to eliminate anyone from a jury who has qualms about the law, and therefore stack the jury with 'yes' men and women. It means that trial by jury is a meaningless ritual which masks what's really going on, which is trial by government," said longtime LP member and activist Larry Dodge, co-founder of FIJA, the Fully Informed Jury Association.

For more information, contact the Jury Rights Project at jrights@welcomehome.org, or the Laura Kriho Legal Defense Fund, c/o Paul Grant (defense attorney), P.O. Box 1272, Parker, CO 80134, or call 303-841-9649, or e-mail pkgrant@ix.netcom.com.

More Information about this case

[seedship.com Home]	[Back to Politics and Government]	[Top]