Denver judge chides mayor's wife
Tape recorder taken from her during trial of accused cop-killer
Sue Lindsay, Rocky Mountain News
Published September 8, 2006 at midnight
The Denver mayor's wife was scolded by a judge and had her tape recorder confiscated by sheriff's deputies Thursday after she recorded part of the Raul Gomez-Garcia murder trial.
Denver District Judge Larry Naves halted testimony midafternoon, sent the jury out of the courtroom and demanded to know who had a tape recorder.
Several seconds passed with no reply.
As Naves ordered deputies to point out the offender, Helen -Thorpe, wife of Mayor John Hickenlooper, tentatively rose from her seat.
She identified herself as a journalist and said she was unaware that recording devices were barred from Colorado courts.
Naves told Thorpe that recordings of proceedings can be made only when requests for expanded media coverage are approved and that she had not made any such request.
"I apologize," Thorpe said. "I didn't know."
Thorpe told reporters she has recorded court proceedings in New York and other states with no problem. She also recorded Gomez-Garcia's preliminary hearing in Denver, unaware of the prohibition and undiscovered by deputies.
Thorpe said she has been attending public hearings related to immigration as research for a book on the subject that she may write.
"I have no plans to write anything about this in the immediate future," she said.
Thorpe also said she attended the trial because of Gomez-Garcia's "connection" with her husband. He previously worked at one of Hickenlooper's restaurants.
Deputies returned her recorder at the end of the day.
"Helen Thorpe is a working journalist who has covered out-of-state trials in the past where tape recorders were permitted," said Lindy Eichenbaum Lent, Hickenlooper's spokeswoman.
lindsays@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5181
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