The 43-year-old Cortez man, who had his second-degree murder conviction vacated in October, had his bond amount set at $100,000 cash on Tuesday morning.
Although a bond hearing, the most dramatic statements of the day was when the the victim’s mother asked that Farrell Greenlee be released, believing the shooting death of her daughter was accidental.
“I will do everything I can to help Mr. Farrell out,” Opal Stewart said. “In my mind this thing was an accident. I do not think he shot my daughter on purpose.”
She also said she supported the 7.5 year plea agreement that Wilson denied back in 2004.
Russell Wasley, district attorney for the 22nd Judicial District, asked District Court Judge Douglas Walker to set Greenlee’s bond amount at $250,000 cash after informing the court that case law showed the man was eligible for a bond amount. Wasley pointed out that this is what the bond was set at in 2004.
Greenlee’s conviction was vacated due to ineffective counsel at his 2004 trial.
The DA’s office has appealed District Judge Jeffrey Wilson’s order that Greenlee’s sentence be vacated, and no decision is expected anytime soon.
Walker was upset that a pre-sentence report was not done prior to Tuesday’s hearing, something he had ordered last week.
Wasley said the case is now old, but the summary and statement of facts of the case have not changed.
He said a young woman was killed, wrapped in a blanket, put in the trunk of a car before the body was put in a refrigerator on an isolated location on the farm of Greenlee’s father.
Wasley said the only reason the body was ever found was the cryptic jail-house letter Greenlee sent to his father.
The district attorney said there would be a risk to the community if Greenlee is able to make bail, and added people are in fear of him. He said one witness mentioned during the first trial that there was no doubt his life was in danger.
Wasley said Greenlee allegedly told the witness he “may have popped a snitch” in reference of Marcie Stewart-Jacobson talking to law enforcement about the methamphetamine being used. He also allegedly told the witness to lie and say the victim had left the house in a pickup truck.
“This case arose out of the background of meth,” he said, also mentioning two instances where Greenlee failed to appear in court — one on 2001 for disturbing the peace in Denver and a 1998 charge where he was accused of theft in Montezuma County.
“I understand Judge Wilson has vacated the conviction, but I believe there is some value to that finding,” Wasley said.
He said Wilson’s order mentioned that the defense was far superior than the prosecution in the first trial, but Greenlee was still convicted.
“Given all that, Mr. Greenlee has a lot to lose, and because of that, he is a flight risk,” he said.
Wasley said if Greenlee is able to make bond the stipulations should include call-ins to pre-trial services twice a day, drug testing, an active GPS monitor and the order to stay away from the 13 people on the protection list.
However Stewart, the mother of the victim, and Mari Wareham, who was Greenlee’s girlfriend at the time of the shooting, said they did not fear Greenlee and asked their names be removed from the list, which Walker granted.
Calinda (Forristall) Hackett was added to the protection list.
Greenlee’s attorney, Tom Williamson said the facts of the case are not necessarily correct because there is no evidence to support the shooting of Stewart-Jacobson was intentional.
He also said it is rare for a judge to vacate a conviction due to ineffective counsel, and not only did defense attorneys not call a witness to rebut the testimony of a prosecution witness, the pathologist who testified at the trial has since changed his opinion.
“This wasn’t a fair trial,” he said, adding that Greenlee and his family lived most their lives in the Cortez area.
Williamson also told Walker that Greenlee is not the same person he was in 2004 when his client was considered a junkie.
Greenlee’s mother sat in the front row of the gallery next to the victim’s mother, while Greenlee’s father sat in the back row. About 25 people attended. Greenlee’s attorney said the mother has agreed to allow him to stay with her if he makes bail.
“Mr. Greenlee has every intention to make the bond work,” he said. The alleged death threats, he said, occurred nine years ago during trial while Greenlee was in jail.
Wasley conceded the alleged death threat calls to convince people to not testify in the first trial were not made by Greenlee but does not know who made the calls .
Greenlee also addressed the court. He said that he has been off drugs for nine years and is now a completely different person.
“I will do whatever it takes,” he added and asked Walker to not set the bond so high that it would be unattainable.
Walker, in setting the bond amount, said Greenlee has a lot to lose at a potential future trial and a lot to lose if he skipped bail, which would cost his family the bail money.
“The allegations are very serious — death of a human being, drug use and the hiding of a body,” Walker said.
If Greenlee makes bail, he will be drug tested up to three times a week, have an active GPS monitor and not be allowed to possess a firearm.
Walker said he might consider a property bond in the future provided he receive information on the property that would be used, including an appraisal, equity and other liens.
Walker said he would set another hearing to discuss changing the cash bond to a property bond if this was requested by the defense.
michaelm@cortezjournal.com