Thomas plans for day in court <P> By Christopher Anderson <BR> Camera Staff Writer<P><BR> A former Boulder police detective being sued for defamation by John and<BR> Patsy Ramsey has retained the attorney who won a wrongful death civil<BR> suit against O.J. Simpson. <BR> Steve Thomas said Monday he has retained the services of Daniel<BR> Petrocelli and said he looks forward to the opportunity to "expose in a<BR> court of law what happened in the Ramsey home" the night the couple's<BR> daughter, JonBenét, was killed. <BR> Petrocelli, a trial lawyer who works for the Los Angeles law firm of<BR> O'Melveny & Myers, represented Fred Goldman in a $33.5 million<BR> wrongful-death judgment against Simpson, who was acquitted in criminal<BR> court of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. <BR> On Thursday, the Ramseys filed an $80 million libel and slander lawsuit<BR> against Thomas, a publishing company, and unidentified Boulder police<BR> officers, among others. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta. <BR> The couple's suit against Thomas alleges that his book, "JonBenét: Inside<BR> the Ramsey Murder Investigation," and subsequent media interviews on<BR> the case falsely accused Patsy Ramsey of killing her child and John<BR> Ramsey of participating in the cover-up. The book was published April 10<BR> of last year. <BR> "I stand by my convictions," Thomas said in a statement Monday, the first<BR> since the lawsuit was filed. "The Ramseys have no right to silence me or<BR> anyone else who wishes to seek the truth and speak out about this<BR> horrible tragedy of injustice." <BR> Thomas has established a hotline for supporters to donate to his legal<BR> defense. The fund is being run through Wise Communications, a Los<BR> Angeles public relations firm. <BR> Thomas was among the first detectives to formally interrogate the<BR> Ramseys about the death of their daughter. <BR> He resigned from the department Aug. 6, 1998, on what would have been<BR> the little girl's 8th birthday. <BR> In his resignation letter, Thomas expressed frustration that the Boulder<BR> County District Attorney's Office was preventing a criminal case against<BR> the couple from moving forward. <BR> JonBenét, 6, was found beaten and strangled in her family's basement<BR> home Dec. 26, 1996. <BR> John and Patsy Ramsey have remained under police suspicion, although<BR> the couple has repeatedly denied killing JonBenét. <BR> In his first comments on the lawsuit, Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner<BR> said he is not aware of anyone providing Thomas with information for the<BR> book. <BR> "Our position is it's not our issue," he said. "It's between Steve Thomas<BR> and the Ramseys." <BR> The Ramseys' attorney, Lin Wood, says the proof that officers helped with<BR> the book lies within Thomas' own author's note, which mentions<BR> "confidences." <BR> The note reads: "To certain members of the Boulder Police Department,<BR> cops who still cannot speak out publicly and who know this story too well,<BR> I appreciate your continued support and the confidences you provided me<BR> in the presentation of this book." <BR> The lawsuit refers to the unnamed officers as "John Doe" 1, 2 and 3, and<BR> "Jane Doe" 1. Wood hopes to prove who the officers are as part of<BR> discovery in the case. <BR> Wood said he is fully aware the lawsuit gives Thomas the opportunity to<BR> question the Ramseys under oath and seek other information. <BR> But he said the couple is not afraid to take the case in front of a jury,<BR> saying they have "the courage of their innocence." <BR> Contact Christopher Anderson at (303) 473-1355 or<BR> andersonc@thedailycamera.com. <BR> Camera wire services contributed to this report.<BR> April 3, 2001<P><b>First I want to say I miss Chris Anderson a lot. We were friends. When I went to Boulder he would meet with me and we would sit and talk - he had a contageous smile, a great laugh. He was a very nice guy, he was respected in life, and missed now that he is gone.<P>Then I want to say that I think he would have laughed when he learned about the lawsuit being settled. The Ramseys were deposed in Wolf - - their depositions were released unredacted. When Steve Thomas was to be deposed in Wolf he fought it - - hard. He did NOT want to talk - - but he found he had to - - and now he is fighting to keep that document sealed so no one will know just how bad it was. <P>The Ramseys were ready to be deposed again - this time by Thomas' attorneys. And Thomas was going to have to face Lin Wolf again. <P>AND HE BLOCKED IT - He and his publishers offered the Ramseys a settlement they couldn't refuse. <P>They could have held out for more - - dragged it out for years - - but this is fine. We all know that Steve Thomas was a liar - - not willing to go to court to prove his theory. He just wanted to have his theory out there. And we all know that the evidence does not prove his theory - - just the opposite, it discredits Steve Thomas totally.