Friday, April 30, 2010

Boulder woman accused of bribing juror wanted to 'visit Canada for three weeks'

Judge revokes bond for Darine Chely
Vanessa Miller - Camera Staff Writer - 04/29/2010

A Boulder woman who was arrested early Wednesday by immigration officers in New York on a Boulder County warrant for skipping town on the last day of her trial and allegedly bribing a juror told authorities that she was going on a three-week vacation to Canada.

Darine Chely, 51, was arrested about 3 a.m. Wednesday when the Greyhound bus she was on was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, whose job it is to check the identity of every passenger, said Gregory Bennett, spokesman for the border protection office. Chely, who had one piece of luggage, told the officers she was planning to visit Canada for three weeks, but they refused her entry after checking her criminal history, Bennett said.

Officers drove her back to the U.S. border, where New York state police officers arrested her on the Boulder County warrant. She's being held at the Clinton County Detention Center in New York, where she is awaiting an extradition hearing, said Boulder County sheriff's Cmdr. Rick Brough.

If Chely doesn't fight her extradition, Boulder County officers have 10 days to pick her up. Otherwise, Boulder County has 90 days to get a governor's warrant for her return to Colorado.

Chely was tried last week on suspicion of firing a bullet from her home into her next-door neighbor's house in 2009. She faced charges of reckless endangerment and possession of a weapon by a previous offender. On April 21, according to an arrest affidavit, a juror who was hearing her case found a note offering him $5,000 to acquit Chely. The note was on paper that matched crumpled paper found by Chely's chair.

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Boulder woman accused of bribing juror wanted to 'visit Canada for three weeks'

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Did fugitive defendant try to bribe juror?

Gabriel Falcon - AC360° Writer - April 26, 2010

Colorado authorities are looking for a woman who allegedly tried to bribe a juror $5,000 to vote 'Not Guilty' at her criminal trial. The fugitive, Darine Chely, 51, is charged with bribery and jury tampering.

“It’s a pretty rare occurrence,” said Catherine Olguin, spokeswoman for the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office. “There are judges who have been here for a couple of decades and have no memory of this occurring in Boulder.”

According to the affidavit supporting the arrest warrant for Chely, the alleged bribery happened last week while the defendant was standing trial on charges of weapons possession and reckless endangerment.

Chely allegedly kept staring at one male juror and said “goodbye” to him on April 20, the affidavit said. The next day, the juror returned from a court recess and found a hand written note on his seat, according to the affidavit. The juror then notified the judge about the note. He was dismissed from the jury.

The affidavit alleged the note was approximately 4” x 6” in size, and appeared to be torn out of a notebook. Published reports said the message on the note read “Please don't find me guilty. I will pay $5,000. I am very frightened. Please don't give this to anyone.”

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Did fugitive defendant try to bribe juror?

Darine Chely Warrant for Arrest

Here's a PDF of Darine's Warrant for Arrest for bribery and juror tamerping:

Darine Chely Warrant for Arrest

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Boulder woman accused of bribing juror arrested as she tries to enter Canada

Daily Camera - Erica Meltzer - 04/28/2010

A Boulder woman who did not show up to the last day of her trial after being accused of trying to bribe a juror was arrested by immigration officers in New York as she was trying to leave the country and enter Canada, the Boulder County Sheriff's Office said.

Darine Chely was on trial last week for allegedly firing a bullet from her home into her next-door neighbor's house in 2009. She faced charges of reckless endangerment and possession of a weapon by a previous offender.

Last Wednesday, according to an arrest affadavit, a juror found a note offering him $5,000 to acquit Chely. The paper the note was written on matched paper found crumpled by Chely's chair. The juror turned the note in to the judge and was dismissed from the case.

Chely, who was free on $10,000 bond, did not show up for closing arguments in her trial on Thursday. Since then, there has been a warrant out for her arrest on charges of bribing a juror, a class four felony, and jury tampering, a class five felony, as well as failure to appear.

The jury found Chely, 51, guilty on Friday, but she remained at large.

Chely has a lengthy criminal history, involving numerous money, theft and forgery charges in Boulder, Jefferson, Arapahoe, Adams and Eagle counties, according to court record.

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Boulder woman accused of bribing juror arrested as she tries to enter Canada

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Affidavit: Woman in Boulder weapons trial tried to bribe juror

Darine Chely, who didn't show up for closing arguments Thursday morning, allegedly offered $5k for not guilty verdict

By John Aguilar, Daily Camera Staff Writer - 04/22/2010

A Boulder woman on trial this week for allegedly firing a bullet from her home into her next-door neighbor's house offered a juror $5,000 to find her not guilty of a weapons charge, according to an arrest affidavit released Thursday.

Darine Chely, who has been on trial in Boulder District Court for the last two days on a felony charge of being in possession of a weapon by a previous offender, placed a note underneath a notebook belonging to an alternate juror during a recess Wednesday, the affidavit states.

"Eric, please don't find me guilty. I will pay $5,000. I am very frightened. Please don't give this to anyone," Chely allegedly wrote.

The juror, identified in the arrest affidavit as Eric Acord, brought the note to the attention of Boulder District Judge James Klein and was dismissed from the panel.

Chely, who was free on $10,000 bond, failed to appear for closing arguments Thursday morning. She remained at large as of presstime.

She now faces three new felony charges -- bribery, bribing a juror and jury tampering. A new bond of $75,000 was set once she is arrested.

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Woman in Boulder weapons trial tried to bribe juror