home

Colorado to Review Lisl Auman's Felony Murder Conviction

Lisl Auman was in police custody at the time of the crime, yet under the felony-murder rule she was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Last summer, she lost her bid to the Colorado Court of Appeals to reverse the conviction. Monday, the Colorado Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari and agreed to hear the case.

The issue before Colorado's high court court will be whether Lisl's arrest by police precluded her liability for felony murder.

Journalist Hunter Thompson took up Lisl's cause during her first appeal, writing about it often in his ESPN column, including here.

I have consulted with many Lawyers on the Lisl Auman case -- which gets uglier every time I look at it. Twenty-five thousand (25,000) people have checked into her Web site since I mentioned it here two weeks ago. She is still in Prison, of course, but the massive Web response was extremely encouraging to her parents & her many supporters....

I don't do this very often -- Never, in fact -- but this case is such an outrage that it haunts me & gives me bad dreams at night. I am not a Criminal Lawyer, but I have what might be called "a very strong background" in the Criminal Justice System & many of my friends & associates are widely known as the best legal minds in that cruel & deadly business.

It is no place for amateurs, and even seasoned professionals can make mistakes that are often fatal. The System can grind up the Innocent as well as the Guilty, and that is what I believe happened to 20-year-old Lisl Auman, who was unjustly found guilty of murder and sent to prison for the rest of her Life Without....

...one thing that sticks with me is a quote from Edmund Burke that says: "THE ONLY THING NECESSARY FOR THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL IS FOR GOOD MEN TO DO NOTHING."

That is what got me into the Lisl Auman case, and that is why I will stay in it until this brutal Wrong is Righted. That is also why the first contribution to the Lisl Auman Defense Fund came from Gerald Lefcourt of New York, the current President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "This is not going to be easy," he said with a wry smile. "But what the hell -- count me in."

Indeed. It is no small trick to get a "Convicted cop-killer" out of prison -- but it will be a little easier in this case, because Lisl no more killed a cop than I did. She was handcuffed in the backseat of a Denver Police car when the cop was murdered in cold blood by a vicious skinhead who then shot himself in the head & left the D.A. with nobody to punish for the murder -- except Lisl.

It is a long story & I can't explain it all now. But you can find it on the Web at Lisl.com.
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers wrote an amicus brief on her behalf. We hope this time around there is justice for Lisl.
< Moving Slowly on Amber Alerts | Update on the Guantanamo Detainees >
  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


  • Display: Sort: