Colorado woman's murder conviction overturned
DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- The Colorado Supreme Court tossed out a life sentence and ordered a new trial for a woman convicted of murder in the slaying of a police officer shot by a man she allegedly recruited to break into her ex-boyfriend's apartment.
The court said the jury of Lisl Auman may have been improperly instructed by a judge.
Auman was in handcuffs and sitting in a police cruiser when the officer was slain in 1997 by Matthaeus Jaehnig, who then turned the gun on himself.
She was convicted under a state law allowing for a murder charge if an accomplice commits murder during another crime. The Supreme Court ordered a new trial but upheld the law that allowed Auman to be convicted of felony murder as an accomplice.
"It does not matter that the defendant had no intent to kill or that the defendant did not cause the killing," the court ruled.
Auman, 29, has spent seven years in prison appealing her conviction, winning support from the late writer Hunter S. Thompson, the late singer-songwriter Warren Zevon, and actors Sean Penn, Benecio Del Toro and Johnny Depp.
"She never lost faith in the justice system," Auman family spokesman Matt Moseley said. "This is a vindication of her faith."
Attorney General John Suthers said he was disappointed that the conviction and sentence were thrown out but pleased that the felony murder law was upheld.
"This crime spree and homicide ... is a textbook example of when the felony murder rule should be applied," he said. He did not say whether her would retry Auman.
Auman's appeal challenged the trial judge's instructions to the jury. The Supreme Court ruled the judge failed to tell the jury that a burglary conviction requires prosecutors to prove that the defendant knowingly took someone else's property without permission.
Auman admitted entering her ex-boyfriend's apartment unlawfully but claimed she only wanted to retrieve her own property.
Auman, Jaehnig and others had broken into her former boyfriend's apartment on Nov. 12, 1997. A passer-by called police; when they responded, Auman and Jaehnig fled in a car driven by Jaehnig and were chased by police.
After the pair abandoned the car and fled on foot, police caught Auman, handcuffed her and put her into a patrol car, but Jaehnig bolted into a maze of townhouses, exchanging gunfire with police.
Officer Bruce VanderJagt, 47, was hit at least once and died at a hospital after fellow officers carried him to an ambulance. After an hours-long search, Jaehnig was found dead outside a townhouse from a single gunshot wound to his chin.
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