01-17-2024, 02:05 PM
[color=var(--posttitletextcolor)]Compilation of grand juror quotes
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Original Source Material
[color=var(--newCommunityTheme-bodyText)]Source: Court TV's JonBenet: Anatomy Of A Cold Case / Globe (July 7, 2006)
Grand juror Michelle Czopek[/color]
Source: Charlie Brennan article, Daily Camera (January 27, 2013)
Anonymous grand jurors
Source: Law & Disorder by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker (February 26, 2013)
John Douglas
Source: Charlie Brennan article, Daily Camera (December 16, 2016)
Anonymous grand juror
Source: 20/20, JonBenet: Grand Juror Speaks (Dec 16, 2016)
Anonymous grand juror (later confirmed to be Jonathan Webb)
Source: The Killing of JonBenet: The Final Suspects podcast (January 6, 2020)
Grand juror Jonathan Webb
Source: 20/20, The List: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey? (January 15, 2021)
Grand juror Jonathan Webb
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Original Source Material
[color=var(--newCommunityTheme-bodyText)]Source: Court TV's JonBenet: Anatomy Of A Cold Case / Globe (July 7, 2006)
Grand juror Michelle Czopek[/color]
Quote:[On seeing autopsy photos of JonBenet]
Quote:"The pictures were so horrible that the jurors felt it was absolutely inconceivable that any mother on Earth could have been capable of doing such a thing to their own child."
Source: Charlie Brennan article, Daily Camera (January 27, 2013)
Anonymous grand jurors
Quote:“We didn’t know who did what,” one juror told the Camera, “but we felt the adults in the house may have done something that they certainly could have prevented, or they could have helped her, and they didn’t.”
Quote:“It’s still unresolved,” one juror said. “Somebody did something pretty horrible that wasn’t punished.
Quote:“I’m not saying that I am at peace. But I had sympathy with his (Hunter’s) decision. I could see the problem that he was in. I could understand what he was doing.”
Quote:Still, one juror who spoke with the Camera expressed a feeling of still not being completely reconciled with Hunter’s decision. But the juror added that, perceiving that it would be a difficult case to try, Hunter’s declining to sign the indictment, also known as a true bill, was understandable.
Quote:And, the juror said, “I think I did believe that they would get more evidence and figure out who did it.”
Quote:Another grand juror who confirmed the vote said, “I think I have conquered the feeling of any acute frustration.
Quote:“This is what we thought, and that’s what you (the prosecutors) asked us for, and that’s what we gave you, our opinion,” the juror added. “That was our job, and the rest of the legal procedure, they just do with it what has to be done.”
Quote:Several grand jurors declined to comment on their vote. One, in doing so, said, “Our job was to try to come up with, to help solve, this crime.
Quote:“It has not been solved yet, and we are still under oath to keep silent and I would like to honor that. And I still have all the hope that, in the coming years, this crime will be solved properly.”
Quote:“I actually believe that I did a good job with being able to pay attention to the actual evidence that was said,” one juror said of the grand jury experience. “I didn’t go in there with my mind made up, one way or the other.”
Quote:That juror talked about being bothered by seeing a disparity between what was presented as evidence and what was being reported outside the courthouse by insatiable media.
Quote:Jurors even in routine cases are typically cautioned to avoid media coverage, and the juror said that was the case for the Ramsey grand jury — but only at first.
Quote:“At the beginning, they said, ‘Don’t look at the media.’ But this was a year-and-a-half we were doing this, so some time not long after the beginning, they said, ‘We really can’t ask you not to look at the media. There is too much stuff going on.'”
Quote:And so, the juror said, “The instructions sort of changed to, ‘What you need to pay attention to is what’s said in this room. You’ve already seen how much out there is not true. Pay attention to what is said inside this room because this is evidence we can back up. And things that are said outside aren’t that way.’ They expected us to be grownups about it, if you will.”
Quote:“It was pretty traumatic,” a juror said. “It was a horrible event, and to really have to delve into all of the evidence and know what happened and get details was difficult.
Quote:“The reality is it was a horrible thing, and I didn’t have the luxury of picking and choosing what I would pay attention to. I needed to know what happened in every detail, so it was difficult. So many people had been traumatized by this, and hurt, and scared.”
Quote:Another juror commented on fears that family members might “disown” the juror over that juror’s refusal to discuss the ongoing work with relatives.
Quote:But that juror was honored to be part of the process.
Quote:“I thought, and believe, that they were presenting all of the relevant information we needed to make a decision like that, and that’s all we did,” said the juror.
Quote:As for Hunter’s decision not to go forward with a prosecution, the juror said, “That’s the way it goes. I don’t have any thoughts on what should or should not have been done.
Quote:“That’s why we, the people, put him there. Alex Hunter was, and is, a very, very intelligent person. It was interesting, and rewarding, being part of the legal justice system.”
Quote:A juror, reflecting on the grand jury experience, and Hunter’s decision not to prosecute the indictment, emphasized that the entire matter has long been out of the jurors’ hands.
Quote:“I believe and feel our effort was well executed, the results of which were, as they say, pro bono publico, for the public good,” the juror said.
Quote:“You say, ‘Our job was well done, we gave them an opinion.’ What happened after that, we went through all that and you find out that the bottom line was the district attorney felt there wasn’t enough evidence to proceed with any further effort in this regard.
Quote:“Can he do that? Yes, he most certainly can.”
Source: Law & Disorder by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker (February 26, 2013)
John Douglas
Quote:[recounting his experience testifying before the grand jury]
Quote:I recall one member asking me something like, "What if we told you there was evidence that two people were involved in this crime?"
Quote:"I've investigated and testified in cases in which I thought there were two people involved," I replied, "but I don't see it here." Then I added, "But if you actually have the evidence you mention, then why am I here? Why are you talking to me? Go with your evidence."
Quote:He backed off.
Source: Charlie Brennan article, Daily Camera (December 16, 2016)
Anonymous grand juror
Quote:A JonBenet Ramsey case grand juror on Friday applauded the news that there is to be a new round of DNA testing in the unsolved investigation, but is unsure that it will necessarily lead to the killer’s identity.
Quote:“I am glad to hear that there will be new DNA testing,” said the juror, who offered the comments based on assurance of anonymity.
Quote:“I’m also feeling doubtful that it will bring the killer to justice,” the juror said. “But I know that other cases are being solved after much time has passed with new technology, so perhaps this can be, too.”
Quote:The juror had seen the news on Tuesday when it was reported that, following a joint investigation by the Camera and 9NEWS raising concerns about the DNA-based exoneration of the Ramsey family, police and prosecutors are planning to submit certain evidence to the latest generation of DNA testing.
Quote:“I was happy to see that it’s moving forward,” the juror said, “but not that hopeful of a resolution.”
Quote:Until now, it has never been known to what extent DNA evidence — far less advanced in the late 1990s than it is today — had influenced the jury’s decision- making process.
Quote:Not very much, according to this juror.
Quote:“To me, it seemed like the DNA evidence was just inconclusive. I don’t remember it playing a major role in our discussions, because what did it mean?” the juror said. “It didn’t seem to include or exclude anyone.”
Quote:The grand juror briefly laid out several reasons central to why the grand jury voted to indict John and Patsy Ramsey.
Quote:The reasons offered by the juror are:
Quote:• “No evidence of an intruder. No footprints in the snow, no physical evidence left behind.”
Quote:• “The killer was in the house for hours between the blow to the head and the strangling.”
Quote:• “The location of the body in a hard-to-find room.”
Quote:• “The ransom note written in the house with weird personal information and never a ransom call.”
Quote:• The juror, after rattling off those points, then posed a question: “Also, how much evidence is there really that this was a sex crime?”
Quote:The juror confessed to “not doing much at all” for Christmas this season, which marks 20 years since JonBenet was buried in a Marietta, Ga., graveyard with her killer’s identity still a mystery.
Quote:However, the juror said, the holiday certainly triggers many thoughts about the tragedy.
Quote:“Yes, a lot of things can spark a memory of the case, and a lot of them are tied to Christmas,” the juror said. “So, I do remember her this time of year. I still feel sad that we weren’t able to help JonBenet.”
Source: 20/20, JonBenet: Grand Juror Speaks (Dec 16, 2016)
Anonymous grand juror (later confirmed to be Jonathan Webb)
Quote:Amy Robach: Before you were a grand juror, what did you know about the JonBenet Ramsey case?
Quote:Jonathan Webb: Very little. I saw that there was a little girl dressed up with, in my opinion, a sexual persona, and it disgusted me and I turned off the TV.
Quote:[On touring the home]
Quote:Jonathan Webb: In the basement where she was found, it was actually kind of an obscure layout. And you had to go into...you come down the stairwell, and you had to go into another room to find a door that was closed. It was a very eerie feeling. It was like, 'Somebody had been killed here.'
Quote:Amy Robach: Was there enough evidence to indict John and Patsy Ramsey of a crime?
Quote:Jonathan Webb: Based upon the evidence that was presented, I believe that's correct.
Quote:Amy Robach: But if the case went to trial, did he believe that the Ramseys would be convicted?
Quote:Jonathan Webb: No.
Quote:Amy Robach: No doubt?
Quote:Jonathan Webb: There's no way that I would be able to say 'Beyond a reasonable doubt, this is the person.'
Quote:Amy Robach: There was no smoking gun.
Quote:Jonathan Webb: Not to the point of knowing exactly what happened, or exactly who was involved, no. And if you are the District Attorney, if you know that going in, it's a waste of taxpayer dollars to do it.
Quote:Amy Robach: Based on the evidence you were presented, do you feel you know who killed JonBenet Ramsey?
Quote:Jonathan Webb: I highly suspect I do.
Quote:Amy Robach: And, who do you think that is?
Quote:Jonathan Webb: I wish not to answer that question.
Source: The Killing of JonBenet: The Final Suspects podcast (January 6, 2020)
Grand juror Jonathan Webb
Quote:My name is Jonathan Webb. I lived in Boulder Colorado in the late 90s. I was a graduate student at the University of Colorado and then I was brought in as a potential juror. The process of a grand jury is where the prosecutor presents the information. There is no defense lawyers or personnel there. It's simply the prosecutor presenting the evidence as they had found it.
Quote:We were allowed to take notes, ask questions of the witnesses and we saw a lot of information from everything from individuals that were related to the case to handwriting experts to, you know, medical experts doing autopsy, etcetera.
Quote:The one thing that really, I'd never forgotten is the testimony from a pediatric forensic pathologist from the University of Miami. And, uh, the shots of the -- we saw a lot of video and a lot of testimony. And the manner in which someone dies with the type of injury JonBenet had, and the time course, is something that will never leave me.
Quote:Based upon the evidence that we saw, we were told the decisions of preponderance of the evidence for a grand jury. Which means that if you get over 50 percent, 50.1 percent or more that you think that someone might have done it, then you vote to indict. That is not beyond a reasonable doubt.
Quote:The evidence that I saw, if I sat on a regular jury, I would have never convicted anyone because it wasn't to the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt. So I think the DA made the correct decision and I was fine with it. I'm not fine with the fact that it's still an unsolved murder, I don't want that to be misinterpreted, but I simply don't believe the evidence was there to convict anyone. And it would have been a waste of the state's money to try and chase that, based upon the evidence at the time.
Source: 20/20, The List: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey? (January 15, 2021)
Grand juror Jonathan Webb
Quote:Jonathan Webb: My name is Jonathan Webb. I was a grand juror on the JonBenet Ramsey case.
Quote:Jami Floyd: Webb told us that the grand jury spent most of their time focused on two main issues. First, who wrote that ransom note.
Quote:Jonathan Webb: We heard from three handwriting experts, and even though the handwriting experts couldn't definitively say that she wrote it, they all three came to the same conclusion that it could have been Patsy Ramsey. And the grand jury believed that she wrote it.
Quote:Jami Floyd: The second focus for this grand jury, according to Jonathan Webb, was the viability of the intruder theory.
Quote:Amy Robach: Smit actually presented his intruder theory to the grand jury. [clip of Smit] But the grand jury wasn't buying the intruder theory because of those cobwebs in the window.
Quote:Jonathan Webb: The intruder theory didn't make sense to the grand jury. The Boulder Police had photographed cobwebs, so for someone to get through a small opening like that and not disturbing a cobweb would be remarkable.