Colorado & Denver News

by Rick Sallinger
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) ― The suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case may be extradited to Sonoma County to face child pornography charges, according to the Boulder County Sheriff's office.

John Mark Karr remained in custody in Boulder County pending extradition. Charges in Boulder were dropped after Karr's DNA didn't match that of the foreign DNA found on Ramsey's body when she was killed.

No charges will be filed against Karr in the investigation, John Mark Karr's public defender confirmed Monday afternoon.

What would have been Karr's first appearance in Boulder County Court that been scheduled for later Monday afternoon was canceled.

Previous reports said samples of Karr's saliva and hair were taken in Boulder after his arrival on Thursday. CBS4's Rick Sallinger reports that Karr was given a mouth-swab test while in Thailand. That and possible other samples were tested over the weekend inside the Denver Police Department's Crime lab.

Earlier Monday, an attorney for Karr demanded that the state turn over all evidence related to DNA in the 1996 case Monday, just a few hours ahead of Karr first Colorado court appearance.

Among other things, Seth Temin's court filing asked for a clear description of any biological evidence, including how much is left and how it is being stored.

"Eventually in this case, a court will have to analyze the admissibility of DNA evidence and its alleged statistical results," the public defender wrote. "It appears that more than one laboratory handled or had custody of samples subjected to testing in this case and more than one expert has evaluated the samples and testing results."

Temin has already challenged the results of any DNA testing involving his client, saying it was illegally obtained. Prosecutors have not confirmed if they performed DNA testing on Karr.

Temin and Steve Jacobson, a retired public defender, spent about three hours at the jail Sunday and declined to answer questions as they left. Temin has been aggressive in his short time on the case, winning approval of a gag order and making sure prosecutors and anyone else comes through him before talking with Karr.

He also joined prosecutors in opposing media requests to unseal the arrest affidavit, using capital letters to spell out his contention that releasing the details would violate Karr's right to a fair trial.

Jacobson is considered a DNA specialist, and DNA was thought to have been slated as one of the major issues should Karr have gone to trial. Jacobson's name wasn't listed on Monday's court filing, but it focused on the rules and procedures of DNA testing, right down to definitions of false positives and "multi-probe genotypes."

The best-case scenario for prosecutors would have been slam-dunk DNA evidence linking Karr to the Ramsey's former home, where JonBenet's beaten and strangled body was found by her father on Dec. 26, 1996.

Without it, experts say, it's much more difficult to build a strong murder case against the 41-year-old Karr, who has said he was there when the girl died but stopped short of an outright confession.

"In this day and age of shows like 'CSI' jurors not only want forensic evidence before they will convict a person, they demand it," said Robert Hirschhorn, a jury consultant based in Dallas.

Investigators have said DNA was found in blood spots on JonBenet's underwear, but a Ramsey family attorney said two years ago it didn't match any of the 1.5 million samples in an FBI database at the time. Other DNA recovered under the girl's fingernails is degraded, Grant said.

Other physical evidence includes a ransom note, the garrote used to strangle the girl, a boot print found outside the Ramsey house and some indications an intruder could have entered through a basement window.

JonBenet's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, were initial targets of a grand jury investigation that ended with no indictments. Patsy Ramsey died in June after learning authorities had turned their attention to Karr, who was living in Thailand when he was detained earlier this month.

JonBenet Ramsey Murder Case In Video

See some key new developments on video in the JonBenet Ramsey case:

Aug. 17, 2006: Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy News Conference

Aug. 17, 2006: In Thailand, Suspect John Mark Karr Says 'I Love JonBenet' & 'I Was With Her When She Died' And Then 'Her Death Was An Accident'

June 29, 2006: Patsy Ramsey's Funeral Held In Georgia

JonBenet Ramsey Murder Case In Pictures

See some key new developments on video in the JonBenet Ramsey case:

 JonBenet Media Blitz In Boulder


 The Death Of JonBenet Ramsey

Motion To Void Karr's Warrant

 Read the motion to quash Karr's arrest warrant.

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