By Steven K. Paulson, The Associated Press
DENVER (AP) -- An attorney asked the Colorado Supreme Court on Thursday to throw out the murder conviction and life sentence for a woman found guilty in the 1997 slaying of a Denver police officer while she was in custody.
Attorney Kathleen Lord told the state Supreme Court that Lisl Auman had no way of knowing her friend, Matthaeus Jaehnig, had guns in his car or that he would shoot Officer Bruce VanderJagt following a burglary and car chase.
Auman was handcuffed in the back of a police car when the shooting occurred, but authorities said she played a key role in the burglary.
Lord said the state statute allowing companions in a felony to be convicted of murder is wrong.
“It lets someone who didn’t mean to kill and who didn’t kill to be found guilty of Colorado’s most serious offense,” she told the five justices who heard the appeal.
The state Court of Appeals in September upheld Auman’s felony murder conviction and sentence. The ruling also upheld her convictions on other charges, including burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary.
Five uniformed Denver police officers stood silently in the back of the room while the case was argued. They refused to comment after the hour-long hearing.
Assistant Attorney General Paul Koehler told the court the sentence was just.
“Of course it’s a harsh rule. It’s intended to be a harsh rule to make sure people take adult responsibility for their actions,” he said.
Prosecutors said Auman recruited Jaehnig and three others to break into her ex-boyfriend’s apartment on Nov. 12, 1997. Jaehnig shot at officers during the ensuing police chase. At the time VanderJagt was slain, Auman had already been captured.
Police said Jaehnig shot VanderJagt with a gun that Auman handed him, then used VanderJagt’s gun to kill himself.
Auman’s cause has been taken up by celebrities including journalist Hunter Thompson and singer Warren Zevon. Some groups, including the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, have said it highlights the vagueness of the felony murder statute and the possibility the law can be abused.
Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman, who was among those in the courtroom, said criminals have to take responsibility for events they set in motion.
“This was a flight from a felony. You can’t just throw up your hands and say, `I give,”’ he said.
Attorney General Ken Salazar said there was a direct link between her crime and the murder.
“If someone had not organized a burglary, there would not be a dead officer,” he said.