12 March 2018 :

The Colorado Court of Appeals has upheld a trial court's order jailing a Mennonite investigator for refusing on religious grounds to testify in the death-penalty post-conviction proceedings of her former client, Robert Ray. The court ruled that Greta Lindecrantz's religious beliefs do not provide a legal justification for disobeying a court directive to provide testimony concerning the scope of the investigation the defense conducted in preparation for trial. As a Mennonite, she says capital punishment violates her religious beliefs. Greta Lindecrantz is a private investigator and worked on the defense team of Robert Ray, who was convicted of killing Javad Marshall-Fields and his fiancee, Vivian Wolfe, in Aurora in 2005. Ray’s legal team is appealing his conviction and prosecutors want Lindecrantz to testify that he had an adequate defense in the case. Because he was sentenced to death, Lindecrantz doesn’t want to be a part of the post-sentence proceeding. She refused to answer more than 70 questions about her work on behalf of the defense on Monday. Arapahoe County District Judge Michelle Amico held her in contempt of court and sent her to jail overnight. The court noted that Lindecrantz collected at least $389,552 in compensation and expenses from the state as a defense investigator and mitigation specialist knowing that the state was seeking the death penalty. Ray and co-defendant Sir Mario Owens were sentenced to death for the 2005 killings of Javad Marshall-Fields and his fiancee Vivian Wolfe. Marshall-Fields had witnessed an earlier shooting that Owens was convicted of.