[Colorado-talk] Disputed Blagg juror not legally blind, eye doctor testifies in motions hearing

[Chris Foster]

Hello Federation Friends,
Several months ago you may remember that I sent out a story about court
proceedings in Grand Junction where a convicted felon and his attorneys are
arguing for a new trial because one of the jurors was believed to be legally
blind and had not disclosed her eye condition at the beginning of the
original trial.  Well, the motions and hearings continue and below is a
story of what has happened lately.  Sadly, it would appear that this woman's
actions may muddy the waters even further as to the potential of blind
people serving on juries.  Enjoy, Chris Foster 
 
 
Disputed Blagg juror not legally blind, eye doctor testifies in motions
hearing

By PAUL SHOCKLEY/The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel


Monday, January 11, 2010

A woman at the center of a fight over a possible retrial of convicted
murderer Michael Blagg is not legally blind, a doctor testified Monday.

Dr. Allen Grey, an optometrist now caring for former Blagg juror Marilyn
Charlesworth, testified he wouldn't expect radical improvement in her vision
from the time Blagg went to trial in March 2004 to when Grey examined her in
April 2008.

Charlesworth has a prosthetic left eye and a degenerative, hereditary
condition in her right eye that restricts her peripheral vision, according
to the doctor's testimony.

"Could she have less peripheral vision in 2003 than she had in 2008?"
Assistant District Attorney Rich Tuttle asked the doctor.

"No," Grey responded.

The doctor said he agreed with a prosecution assessment that Charlesworth's
vision "isn't even close" to meeting accepted standards for legal blindness.

Grey's testimony stands in contrast to another local optometrist, also
expected to testify, who concluded in 2003 that Charlesworth was legally
blind.

On cross-examination, Grey said he didn't personally examine Charlesworth
around the time of Blagg's trial and had no knowledge of Charlesworth
failing a driver's vision test administered around the same time by the
Colorado Department of Revenue's Division of Motor Vehicles.

Gray-bearded and dressed in a red jail jumpsuit, Blagg sat in a Mesa County
courtroom Monday for the first time in nearly six years as Chief District
Judge David Bottger heard testimony on a motion for a new trial. 

Blagg, 46, supported in the courtroom by his sister, Claire, jotted down
notes on a legal pad as his public defenders called their first few
witnesses in a motions hearing expected to run through Wednesday.

Blagg's public defenders alleged in a 2005 motion that Charlesworth failed
to disclose her vision problems during jury selection. According to the
motion, Charlesworth told other jurors she was legally blind, and that
Blagg's attorneys obtained a journal she kept during the trial.

"I can't see past the defendant," she wrote in one section, adding she
eventually changed seats in the jury box to accommodate her vision problems.

"She couldn't see a lot of the stuff they presented, like the pictures, and
stuff that were shown ... she couldn't see those unless they were right in
front of her," one juror told attorneys, according to the motion.

Blagg was convicted in April 2004 of murdering his wife, Jennifer, in
November 2001. He was not charged in connection with the disappearance of
the couple's daughter, Abby, 6, who is presumed dead. Blagg is serving a
sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Deputy Public Defender Brian Connors on Monday told the judge that
Charlesworth was prescribed anti-anxiety drugs, but didn't disclose the
information to attorneys during jury selection when asked specifically about
such drugs. Connors said it suggests Charlesworth has a history of
concealing information about her health to court officials.

Jeremy Brown, Mesa State College's director of information technologies and
communications, testified he believed Charlesworth at times "wasn't
completely truthful" in her dealings with him.

Brown, who supervised Charlesworth at Mesa State, testified that the college
made efforts to accommodate her eyesight problems, which Charlesworth openly
shared. She worked five years at the college before resigning in 2004.

Charlesworth's vision was at the heart of a worker's compensation claim she
lodged against Mesa State College, as well as a separate legal action
against the college filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission.

Julie Weinke, a former specialist at Community Hospital who completed an
ergonomics evaluation of Charlesworth's former work space at the college in
2003, testified she was surprised at how well Charlesworth could see.

"She was able to carry out her life very well," Weinke said.

Email PAUL  <mailto:Paul.Shockley at gjsentinel.com> SHOCKLEY