Attorneys begin work on transition back into world

By Kevin Vaughan, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 24, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

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Masters' attorneys are working to get him counseling.

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A day after watching Tim Masters walk out of court a free man, his attorneys began working in earnest to help his transition back into the world.

"I've got to take him out and show him how to buy a sandwich," attorney David Wymore said Wednesday morning, only half joking.

Masters' attorneys were making arrangements to assess his physical well-being, and were working to get him counseling.

They also were trying to keep him away from "the entertainment industry," Wymore said.

"The problem is I'm a trial lawyer," Wymore said. "I'm trying to figure this stuff out for him. I need a lot of help, but I'm not going to get it from Dr. Phil or Larry King.

"I don't need any pop psychologists."

Wymore and attorney Maria Liu are coordinating scores of offers of help for Masters.

"I'm just bowled over by the citizens of the state of Colorado - just bowled over," he said.

Masters has spent nearly all of his adult life in a regimented world. After graduating from high school, he joined the Navy, where he served for eight years.

Then he worked as an aircraft mechanic for a year before he was arrested Aug. 10, 1998, in connection with the killing of Peggy Hettrick. He had been behind bars since then.

But, at least for the time being, Wymore and Liu have to also focus on the criminal justice system. That's because the move to overturn the conviction and free Masters did not include an outright dismissal of the charges against him. Although numerous legal experts believe there's no way he will be tried again, until the charges are formally dismissed Wymore said he is working as though he will have to defend Masters before a jury.

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