Former Ramsey Friend May Be Jailed

GOLDEN, Colo. -- A judge plans to send a former friend of JonBenet Ramsey's family to jail for failing to appear at a criminal trial related to the girl's unsolved slaying.

Jefferson County District Judge Jane Tidball continued Monday's hearing until Friday to allow Fleet White time to get a lawyer. She did not accept White's reasoning for not appearing at the trial of Boulder lawyer Thomas Miller earlier this month, despite an assistant district attorney's request that she not sentence him to jail.

"I do intend to put you in jail, that's the bottom line," Tidball said.

White was with John Ramsey when he found his 6-year-old daughter beaten and strangled in the family's Boulder basement Dec. 26, 1996, hours after the girl was reported kidnapped.

White and former Boulder police detective Steve Thomas were subpoenaed to testify during Miller's trial. Miller represented a Globe editor accused of trying to buy the Ramsey ransom note and was acquitted by a jury June 14.

Thomas appeared in court Monday to argue that he was never served with the subpoena, so an arrest warrant for him should be quashed. A hearing on that issue was set for July 16 to allow Thomas and the subpoena servers time to present evidence and witnesses.

White appeared without a lawyer and asked to read a statement.

"I have respect for this court," White began. "In this case, however, I did not have so much respect for this case in which I'd been subpoenaed."

He said avoiding testimony in the Miller trial was "in the best interest of the ongoing JonBenet Ramsey investigation, the best interest of the Colorado justice system and, most importantly, the best interests of my family."