DENVER, March 29 (UPI) -- The Colorado Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a woman convicted in the 1997 murder of a Denver police officer.
Legal experts predict prosecutors will cut a deal with Lisl Auman rather than prosecute her again in the murder of officer Bruce VanderJagt, the Denver Post reported Tuesday.
Gov. Bill Owens was concerned the state's high court might use the Auman case to strike down the felony-murder law that allows a murder conviction even through a person is not physically present. Auman was handcuffed to a police car when VanderJagt was killed in an ambush in Denver.
The Supreme Court issued a narrow ruling Monday confined to the wording of the jury instructions and left the law itself intact.
Auman, who was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, had drawn the support of a number of celebrities, including film actor Benicio Del Toro and recently deceased "gonzo" journalist Hunter S. Thompson.
Colleen Auerbach, Auman's mother, said the family hopes her daughter will be released on bail while awaiting a new trial. She said the ruling was the first legal victory for Auman after years of defeat.
