Lawyers For Ramseys Denied Access To Crime Lab Testing

The parents of JonBenet Ramsey will not be allowed to have their lawyers present during evidence testing in the state crime lab, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation says.

Colorado law allows only representatives of defendants to be present when tests are done for the prosecution on DNA evidence, or entitles them to half of the samples for their own tests, said CBI Director Carl Whiteside. “There are no defendants in this particular case,” Whiteside said. “Our policy is what it has always been and that is we do not allow anyone but representatives of defendants to be in our labs to observe.”

However, Boulder police spokesman Kelvin McNeill said last week that prosecutors believe JonBenet’s parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, “may have appropriate standing” to be present for separate DNA tests at Cellmark Diagnostics in Germantown, Md. Authorities invited the Ramsey lawyers to have an expert of their choice present during testing.

Ramsey family spokesman Pat Korten did not return calls Friday, but he said a day earlier that lawyers for the couple were considering that offer.