District Attorney Will Furse had planned to call former Cortez police officer Ryan Carter to testify on Wednesday, but the strategy was abandoned once the court ruled that defense attorneys could question the him about his pending sexual assault charges.
“We are re-evaluating our case,” said Furse.
French, 38, is charged with multiple counts of assaulting peace officers and resisting arrest. Furse argued that Carter, one of several officers that responded to the Valentine’s Day confrontation, shouldn’t be required to divulge his pending criminal matter to jurors.
“This is a right topic for cross-examination,” countered public defender Amy R. Smith.
Smith said that Carter was not under prosecution subpoena to testify at trial, arguing the issue of his pending child-sex charges should be allowed as it might reveal a potential bias.
District Court Judge Todd Plewe agreed, stating that jurors should be allowed to know if prosecutors had promised any leniency toward Carter in exchange for his testimony. To balance Carter’s constitutional rights, Plewe said he would limit defense questioning of Carter to whether he had pending felony charges and if he had been promised or hoped for favorable treatment.
“You have to deal with the hand you’ve been dealt,” Plewe told Furse.
Furse responded that Carter’s attorney had advised her client to plead the Fifth Amendment if questioned about his own legal battles.
“Then get his lawyer here,” Plewe instructed.
Carter and his public defender, Katie Whitney, subsequently arrived as the discussion continued. Jurors were not privy to the conversations.
Whitney confirmed that she had advised Carter not to incriminate himself at the French trial, forcing Plewe to ask prosecutors a simple question.
“You going to call him (to testify) or not?” asked Plewe.
After a brief recess to confer with his deputy prosecutor, Furse advised the court, “We will not be calling Ryan Carter.”
Carter resigned from the police department after he was arrested and charged with multiple counts of child sexual assault over the summer.
Carter remains under subpoena from defense counsel in the French matter. As of press deadline, it was unknown if Carter would be called to testify for the defense.
tbaker@cortezjournal.com
