Inmate's Letter Spells Justice?

The Denver Post

The state is investigating El Paso County DAs for withholding evidence in the case against Tim Kennedy.

According to people familiar with the probe, the state Supreme Court is looking at why prosecutors sat on a letter that could have raised doubts about Kennedy's guilt when they tried him for murder.

A judge has overturned his 1997 convictions partly because of DNA tests and partly because DAs failed to disclose the letter from inmate Charles Stroud, an original suspect in the killings. Stroud's letter to a co-defendant in a rape case appears to implicate him in the murders.

Colorado's Attorney Regulation Counsel may broaden its inquiry into why the office continued to withhold Stroud's letter when Kennedy appealed this winter. Also in question is why, according to Stroud, a prosecutor sent a prison official to discourage him from calling Kennedy's conviction into doubt.

"If a lawyer engaged in the intimidation of any witness, that would be of concern to us," said John Gleason, disciplinary chief for the state Supreme Court.

DA Dan May won't talk about the investigation into his office. He has picked as his deputy Dan Zook, the man who prosecuted Kennedy and is now targeted in the probe.

"Any comments I would make about the case I think are more appropriate to be said in open court," May said Monday.

A hearing is scheduled May 26, possibly to bond out Kennedy, a 52-year-old carpenter who so far has served 13 years of two life sentences.

"We've

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presented mountains of material, new and old, pointing to innocence and DAs have either sat on or ignored it," says Kennedy lawyer John Dicke. "It's time for them to stand up and act ethically in this case."

Kennedy was convicted of killing his friends, Jennifer Carpenter and Steve Staskiewicz, presumably over a $50 gun.