Bill Ritter Shows Up For Jury Duty, But Isn't Picked

DENVER (AP) - Former Gov. Bill Ritter nearly served on a jury last month in Denver after showing up for jury duty and filling out questions about his ability to judge a drug case.

Ritter said he could be a fair judge -- even though the former Democratic governor once was Denver's district attorney and appointed the case's judge, Denver District Court Judge Ken Laff, to the bench.

The former governor also knew the prosecutor. In fact, Ritter hired him when he was acting district attorney, The Denver Post reported Saturday. Ritter's nephew works for the current DA.

"(Laff) said the fact that I appointed him was not going to be any reason for me not to serve," Ritter said. "The judge wanted to demonstrate for the jury that no one gets out of jury duty easily. I had as many conflicts as a juror could have."

Ritter was dismissed from the jury pool for a different reason, The Post reported. Ritter told attorneys and Denver District Court Judge Ken Laff that the defendant in the case may have been related to someone he prosecuted decades before.

"I had to tell the judge that the very first person I ever prosecuted as an assistant district attorney in 1981 shared the same name as the defendant in this case. It was a bootlegging case, and we later prosecuted him on other charges," Ritter said.

"I knew it wasn't the same guy, but it could have been a relative and I just wanted to make sure they knew."

The defendant appeared to know the person Ritter was talking about, referring to that person by a nickname. The former governor was dismissed from the jury pool.

"I think Bill could be fair, but it's a perception issue," Laff told the newspaper.

Afterward, the judge said, jurors asked him how often "celebrities" were picked to hear cases.

"They were excited to be on the panel with Bill," Laff said. "I explained he got off not because he was too important to be on a jury -- no one's too important -- but there was a concern given his past role he might be perceived as being biased."

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)