DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Court of Appeals has thrown out two of nine perjury counts against a suspended Fort Collins police officer accused of lying during the investigation and prosecution of a man who spent almost a decade in prison before his murder conviction was overturned.
Suspended police Lt. Jim Broderick is accused of lying during the prosecution of Tim Masters in the slaying of Peggy Hettrick in 1987. Masters spent almost 10 years in prison before his murder conviction was overturned by DNA evidence.
Hettrick's death remains unsolved.
The appeals court ruled Monday that there is sufficient evidence to believe Broderick lied about a sighting of Hettrick the night she died, but the judges ruled a lower court properly dismissed charges he lied about orange paint near the crime scene and about a shoe print found at the scene.
The appeals court said there was no conclusive evidence Broderick lied about orange paint near the crime scene because he relied on notes taken during his investigation that noted the paint with a question mark beside it. Prosecutors claimed the question mark is evidence Broderick did not believe the paint was orange, but the court ruled the note was not conclusive evidence Broderick lied.
The court also ruled that there was insufficient evidence of perjury over a shoe found at the scene just because investigators could not agree on the type of shoe print.
Prosecutors said Broderick falsely testified that a witness positively identified the victim after she left her apartment, even though another witness claimed to have seen her at another location at the same time. The appeals court said those discrepancies should be resolved by a jury.
"This indicates that (Broderick) could not have believed that his statement was true," the appeals court noted.
Broderick testified he had minimal involvement in the Masters case from 1987 and 1992, but new documents surfaced showing he may have helped plan a surveillance effort against Masters in 1989.
Masters, who was 15 when Hettrick died, had walked by her body but didn't immediately tell police. He was convicted in 1999 of killing her despite a lack of physical evidence, with prosecutors presenting testimony from a forensic psychologist Broderick had consulted and violent pictures Masters had drawn.
Broderick had been previously cleared of wrongdoing by his department and prosecutors declined to file charges against him, but a special prosecutor was appointed after evidence surfaced he lied about his role.
A Larimer County grand jury indicted him in 2010 after new evidence emerged.
Broderick's attorney said some of the officer's statements have been taken out of context. The attorney did not return calls Thursday seeking comment on the latest ruling.
Broderick has been on paid leave from the Fort Collins Police Department for two years, receiving his full salary of about $102,000 a year.
Fort Collins and Larimer County paid Masters a total of $10 million to settle lawsuits claiming that officials mishandled evidence supporting his innocence.