Expert: Preserving scene not detective's duty

Owen S. Good, News Staff Writer

Published June 5, 2001 at midnight

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An expert on police practices testified Monday that the first detective on the scene of the JonBenet Ramsey murder was not responsible for preserving evidence there.

J.P. Van Blaricom, former police chief in Bellevue, Wash., said the sergeants who preceded Linda Arndt at the scene were responsible for preserving it. Arndt, he said, was there to answer a ransom call for what was believed to be a kidnapping.

Arndt is suing the city of Boulder, former police Chief Tom Koby and current Chief Mark Beckner. She says she was not allowed to respond to news accounts that she claims erroneously blamed her for mishandling the crime scene, and that her bosses refused to act on her behalf.

Arndt is expected to testify today. The city then plans to call up to seven former officers, Koby and Beckner, and present a case that their attorney, Theodore Halaby, has said will air dirty laundry about the investigation.

Van Blaricom, who was retained by Arndt to defend her handling of the crime scene, repeatedly qualified his opinion Monday of Arndt's conduct in the context of the unusual situation she faced.

Letting John and Patsy Ramsey hug their daughter's body, allowing the body to be moved, and not clearing the house of the seven others present were all "human decisions," he said.

But Halaby argued that she was experienced enough to handle hysterical parents and keep a crime scene preserved.

"This wasn't any wilting lilly," he said. "She was trained to handle high-stress conditions."

Arndt has not specified the damages she is seeking. But in court documents filed last week, Judge William F. Downes told her attorneys not to expect a spectacular amount.

"It's certainly not a seven-figure case nor a high six-figure case in my opinion," Downes said in a May 14 conference call hearing with both sides.

Downes encouraged attorneys to settle, and warned of the ramifications of a trial that revisited or revealed serious errors made in the Ramsey investigation.

"This matter is going to get some notoriety that I don't think . . . is going to be very flattering to either side," he said. "It'll be a good old-fashioned humdinger."

The trial resumes at 8:45 a.m. today.

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