Federal appeals court to take up JonBenet Ramsey detective's case
By The Associated Press
09.19.02
BOULDER, Colo. — The first detective at the home of JonBenet Ramsey after the 6-year-old was reported missing will get a chance to revive her lawsuit against police next week.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments Sept. 24 from lawyers for Linda Arndt and the police department. In her 1998 lawsuit, Arndt said the department made her a scapegoat for the failed investigation into the girl's death and then prevented her from speaking to reporters to defend herself.
Last year a judge threw out the case after hearing two weeks of testimony. U.S. District Judge William Downes ruled that the First Amendment does not require police departments to allow officers to hold press conferences to defend themselves against alleged mistakes in the news media.
"Linda is very serious about seeing this appeal through, particularly because of the important First Amendment issues in the case," lawyer A. Bruce Jones said Sept. 17.
Lawyers representing Boulder and its police force declined comment.
Arndt's appeal is the first of two Ramsey-related First Amendment lawsuits on the appellate court's docket this fall.
In November, the justices will consider District Attorney Mary Keenan's appeal of a federal ruling last summer that struck down Colorado's law barring grand jury witnesses from discussing their testimony.
That lawsuit was brought by Linda Hoffmann-Pugh, a former Ramsey housekeeper who testified before a Boulder County grand jury investigating the Christmas 1996 slaying of JonBenet.
No arrests were ever made in the case, although police have long said her parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, remain under suspicion.
According to court records, Arndt identified eight media statements that she claimed were inaccurate, and for which she had sought permission from police supervisors to deny publicly.
Those statements included allegations that Arndt disturbed evidence by covering JonBenet's body with a sheet, that she "hacked" department computers and that she blocked the FBI from entering the Ramsey house the morning JonBenet was reported missing.
Arndt was also criticized for allowing John Ramsey to search the home without an accompanying police officer and for not taking statements immediately from the parents.