Judges Censured In Master's Case

The judges have been ordered to pay court costs for their misconduct during the Tim Masters trial. But who's going to compensate Tim for those 10 years?

The Colorado Supreme Court last week censured two Larimer County judges for missteps in the now-overturned 1999 murder conviction of Tim Masters.

Judges Terry Gilmore and Jolene Blair, who were prosecutors in the case, were both publicly admonished for failing to turn over important evidence to the attorneys who defended Masters in the slaying of Peggy Hettrick. Presiding Disciplinary Judge William Lucero also ordered Gilmore to pay more than $3,131 for the court costs involved in the investigation into his misconduct. Blair was ordered to pay more than $2,921.

Gilmore and Blair violated Colorado's Rules of Professional Conduct in Masters' prosecution by not assuring that all evidence that might show Masters was not guilty was turned over to the defense, according to the agreement and affidavit that outlined their admission of misconduct in the case.

Information that was turned over to Masters' attorneys was based only on what was provided to the former prosecutors by the Fort Collins Police Department and detective James Broderick.

Coloradoan