Motion seeks Mennonite investigator’s jail release

Lawyers for the Mennonite criminal defense investigator jailed for her refusal to testify in a death penalty case filed a renewed motion Friday for her release.

Greta Lindecrantz, 67, was found in contempt of court by Arapahoe County District Judge Michelle Amico on Feb. 26 and jailed after refusing to testify in a hearing for Robert Ray, who was sentenced to death in 2009 for the slayings of Javad MarshallFields and Vivian Wolfe.

The Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed the contempt of court ruling last week. The new motion is based on “the harm her imprisonment is now causing to the rights of criminal defendants in other cases,” Denver attorney Mari Newman wrote in a news release.

Lindecrantz was working on several cases before being jailed, including multiple homicide cases. “Her inability to continue her work on these cases due to her imprisonment has caused, and is continuing to cause, her clients to suffer prejudice in their ability to prepare and present their cases.”

Newman said District Attorney George Brauchler is “committed to punishing Ms. Lindecrantz for her faith-based refusal to serve as a prosecution witness in a death penalty case.”

Brauchler said if Lindecrantz testified, prosecutors would not ask her about the death penalty, but would ask questions to determine the competence of her work when she represented Ray.

Ray’s defense team has raised questions about Lindecrantz’s competence to derail the death sentence, Brauchler said. Prosecutors would try to establish Lindecrantz did good work while representing Ray. “I’m disappointed in her decision-making process (not to testify),” Brauchler said. “I’m disappointed for her clients who rely on her for the great work she has done historically, the great work we would like her to testify about in court.”