CU FELONY CHARGES EXCEED NORM, EX-PROSECUTOR SAYS

Monday, May 06, 2002 - BOULDER - Trip DeMuth, a Boulder lawyer who spent 17
years in the district attorney's office before entering private practice,
sees possible irregularities in the case against four Colorado football
players stemming from a Dec. 7 party.

DeMuth, who lost in the 2000 Democratic primary to current District
Attorney Mary Keenan, acknowledged that he has followed the case of Corey
Alexander, Marques Harris, Allen Mackey and Ron Monteilh only from the outside.

The four are charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor for
alcohol they allegedly provided high school football recruits on Dec. 7.
Monteilh is charged with a second felony, distribution of marijuana.

DeMuth said that in his time as a Boulder prosecutor, charging a felony
under such circumstances was rare, at most. Typically, a defendant pleaded
down to contributing to the delinquency of a minor after being charged with
something worse, such as sexual assault.

"It is not commonplace to have contributing to the delinquency of a minor
when they have given just alcohol and marijuana," he said. "Always in the
past it's been some greater criminal conduct committed by that person."

He added of the defendants, all under 21 themselves, "I'd have to say that
it is not typical to charge them with a felony if it involved people who
were underage who were drinking alcohol together."

Last week, Boulder Police Cmdr. Joe Pelle said alcohol and marijuana were
not the only factors in the charge. Also playing a part, he said, were the
facts that the four accused players took their guests to a party where a
rape may have occurred, that they may have driven under the influence, and
that they may have been involved in theft of cash and cellphones at the party.

The police said they won't press charges in any of those allegations.
Harris lawyer Lou Rubino has contended all four players were cleared as
rape suspects, though Pelle declined to confirm that.

"If they have evidence that someone was drinking and driving, they should
charge them with driving under the influence," DeMuth said. "If they have
evidence that a theft occurred, they should charge them with theft. . . .
Somebody commits a theft, so you enhance a charge on somebody else to a felony?

Police have said they will make no other arrests in the case because they
don't want to turn potential witnesses into co-defendants unable to
implicate others.

DeMuth called that strategy unusual, saying, "Seldom in the past have I
seen the police deciding not to prosecute criminals." When he was a
prosecutor, he said, he handled bar fights where everybody got charged. "It
was part of the prosecution's case to work out deals with the less
culpable," he said.

Keenan, the District Attorney, said her office frequently charges people
with the felony of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

"We file this charge on a regular and consistent basis, on average 32 to 35
times a year," she said.

The charge is often brought when a serious crime such as sexual assault is
alleged, she said.

"Whenever we have allegations of a serious offense, whether we can prove
that offense or not, we consider the charge of contributing to the
delinquency of a minor on a consistent basis," she said.