Whites file request for access to some of the<BR> Ramsey files<P> Police chief refuses to hand over files, says they are part of<BR> investigation <P> By Pam Regensberg, Camera Staff Writer<BR> July 4, 2002<P> Fleet White Jr. and his wife, Priscilla, have asked a judge to determine if the city of<BR> Boulder and Police Chief Mark Beckner should turn over files related to the 5-year-old<BR> JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation. <P> In a three-page court filing, accompanied by letters and a newspaper article, the<BR> former friends of John and Patsy Ramsey contend they should have access to the<BR> investigative file involving a California woman who told police she believed JonBenet<BR> was killed as part of a child sex ring. <P> Beckner repeatedly has refused the Whites' request for the file. <P> The Whites claim in the court document filed in Boulder District Court on June 24, the<BR> woman falsely reported to police that the Whites were part of a child sex abuse<BR> conspiracy. The woman, the Whites further claim, told investigators that members of<BR> her family attended a 1996 Christmas party at the Whites' home where 6-year-old<BR> JonBenet was sexually abused and killed. <P> The Whites said they never heard of the woman until a reporter called them in<BR> February 2000 seeking comment on the allegations, according to the filing. <P> Fleet White was with John Ramsey on Dec. 26, 1996, when Ramsey found<BR> JonBenet's beaten and strangled body in the basement of the Ramseys' 15th Street<BR> home. The girl was asphyxiated with a garrote and had been hit on the head with a<BR> blunt object. <P> The night before, the Ramsey family, including JonBenet and her then-9-year-old<BR> brother, Burke, attended a Christmas party at the Whites' home. <P> In February 2000, police began investigating the California woman's claims. Eleven<BR> weeks later the police issued a statement saying they found no evidence to support<BR> her theory. <P> Investigators determined the woman, who lived near San Luis Obispo, was sexually<BR> abused by a relative 20 years ago — but found no ties to the Ramsey case. <P> In a June 3 letter to Chief Beckner, the Whites said that releasing the records "will not<BR> injure the public interest since the false allegations reported ... are not the subject of<BR> an ongoing police or prosecutor investigation." <P> District Attorney Mary Keenan said Wednesday that her office has released some<BR> information concerning the case to the Whites. <P> Beckner, however, has repeatedly told the Whites that the file is part of the murder<BR> investigation and not subject to disclosure under the state's criminal justice records<BR> laws. <P> "All the leads that we get are part of the Ramsey case file," Beckner said Wednesday,<BR> adding the police file is substantially different from the prosecutor's file. "It's not a<BR> separate crime being." <P> Contact Pam Regensberg at (303) 473-1329 or regensbergp@thedailycamera.com.