However, he told Judge James Macrum Jr. that he didn't have the audiotape. Carol Chambers, who angrily called Newell "evasive" and rolled her eyes and shook her head just about every time he spoke, insisted that Newell be sworn in. She then asked him if he had the tape or knew who did. "No," was the reply.
Knight concedes that Chambers was "incredibly frustrated," realizing that a confession was now lost.
"I don't know where it is," Newell tells Westword, referring to the tape. "I obviously have no motive to hide it. If I had it, I would have taken it to the police. Laura says she doesn't know where it is, either. It is possible that 48 Hours picked it up, thinking it was one of their tapes. As a matter of fact, I don't have my tape recorder anymore, either."
Decker told Westword that he found himself in an "odd situation," in which he and Chambers were teaming up against Newell. He also served Newell with a subpoena asking for any evidence he might have.
Macrum told Newell to show up with any such evidence the following day "and I'll deal with you then." He threatened Newell with a contempt citation if he didn't show up.
The next day Newell showed up in court and turned over his logs and other written evidence he had gathered during the case. He still didn't have the tape, but everyone seemed somewhat mollified. Garcia has been charged with felony assault and has pleaded not guilty.
Newell says he's had other contacts with Chambers, whom he described as "the most ineffective prosecutor I've ever seen."
The irony in the situation is that natural allies ended up as foes. Newell has supporters among the battered-women's shelters and anti-domestic-violence groups, even though some have concerns about the risks of victims' "stalking the stalker." On the other side, Aurora and Arapahoe County have a good reputation among such groups for the way they respond to domestic-violence incidents, including courts set up to quickly get offenders into the justice system and away from the victims.
Neither the city nor the county, of course, is perfect. "As you and I know," Knight says, "there are umpteen cases like these that fall through the cracks across the country."
Newell says it wasn't his fault that the Aurora police and Arapahoe County district attorney came off in the TV show as they did. "I don't write the script for 48 Hours," says Newell. "It was a coincidence that the day before 48 Hours arrived I got this case and that I was working on it while they followed me around. Pure coincidence.
"This is political retribution for an image they created for themselves on national television. And today, they finally politicized the court."
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