Patsy Ramsey Targets Prosecutors

ATLANTA (AP) â€” Patsy Ramsey says that if prosecutors in Colorado think she's a murderer, they should charge her and ``get it over with.'' <br><br>After nearly four years of being under suspicion

Thursday, August 31st 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ATLANTA (AP) â€” Patsy Ramsey says that if prosecutors in Colorado think she's a murderer, they should charge her and ``get it over with.''

After nearly four years of being under suspicion in the death of their 6-year-old daughter, JonBenet, Mrs. Ramsey told USA Today she and her husband, John, are weary and frustrated.

``I'm beyond being hurt or embarrassed,'' she told the newspaper Wednesday. ``If you think I did it, let's have a trial and get it over with.'' The Ramseys added that they do not want a trial but are not afraid to go to court.

Police planned no comment on Mrs. Ramsey's challenge, spokeswoman Jennifer Bray said Thursday.

Earlier, Ramsey attorney Lin Wood and prosecutor Michael Kane agreed to release the full tape of this week's two-day, 10-hour police interview with the Ramseys in Atlanta, their first talk with police in more than two years.

Wood's office said Thursday the tape could be released as early as next week. Wood released a tape of 22 minutes of the 10-hour session Wednesday.

The agreement happened during an interview Wednesday night on CNN's ``Larry King Live.'' After Wood challenged Kane to explain why a grand jury did not indict his clients, Kane and Wood also agreed to seek release of grand jury transcripts.

``I'll tell you what: If you will go to court with me, and ask the president judge to authorize a release of that information, I will release it,'' Kane said.

Wood said, ``Let the truth come out.''

The Ramseys have been under suspicion in the 1996 death of the child beauty queen, who was found beaten and strangled in the family's home in Boulder, Colo. No one has been charged, and the Ramseys have maintained their innocence.

A grand jury was convened in 1998 but disbanded last year without an indictment.

The two lawyers sparred on the King show over this week's interrogations, in which Kane and other investigators wanted to raise questions about what they described as new forensic evidence.

Kane complained that he had been misled into thinking the Ramseys would answer any question. Wood insisted the couple had answered ``fair'' questions but acknowledged he had objected to questions based on the prosecutors' explanation of the forensic results.

``He wanted to tell us what the results of the tests were and then ask a hypothetical question about it,'' Wood said. ``The tests results as they described them were confusing. They couldn't give us a clear explanation, so I said `just show us the results.'''

On the videotape segment released Wednesday, Kane threatened to storm out after Wood objected to one line of questioning.

``This is a sham,'' Kane told Wood in an excerpt of the tape released Wednesday. ``This is a big publicity stunt on your part.''

The angry exchange between Kane and Wood came Monday after Kane asked Mrs. Ramsey why she didn't seem more concerned about the safety of her son Burke, now 13, if she believed an intruder killed JonBenet.

On the 22-minute segment of the tape released by Wood, Kane asked Mrs. Ramsey if she worried about someone accosting her son at a stop sign on his way to school. Wood objected.

``What's the objection now?'' Kane asked.

``I just wonder, what does this have to do with the investigation into finding who killed JonBenet Ramsey?'' Wood asked.

Kane rose from the conference table, closed his notebook and acted as if he would leave. He called Wood an obstructionist and said the question was justified.

In the end, Kane didn't leave and the session continued.

``The point is, they're foolish questions,'' John Ramsey told The Associated Press. ``He's trying to discredit us. It has nothing to do with finding the killer.''

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On the Net:

Ramseys' site: http://www.ramseyfamily.com

Boulder police: http://www.ci.boulder.co.us/police