At a news conference, Boulder police spokesman Kelvin McNeill was asked repeatedly by seasoned news veterans why detectives haven't hauled John and Patsy Ramsey down to the police station for an interrogation. You can't be dragged down and forced to participate in an interview,'' McNeill explained. He appeared surprised, as the questioning persisted, that some in the media pool were slow to accept a family's choice to invoke a privilege that's their birthright as American citizens. Two months later, police are no more hopeful that it will ever happen. Ramsey family spokesman Patrick Korten has said his clients are following their lawyers' advice, and that they will give formal interviews only if certain conditions are met, such as that they be interviewed together.
Police are disinclined to do so.
That, too, is an easy one, according to current Colorado Criminal Defense Bar Association president Dan Recht. And then, you're arresting them,'' said Recht. For police to force anyone into the police station without probable cause, even for a chat, is a violation of a citizen's Fourth Amendment right against unlawful search and seizure, said Recht. Police have been criticized by many for giving the Ramseys what they see as lenient treatment because of their wealth. Kaplan, who is also an adjunct professor at the University of Denver College of Law, said it isn't the Ramseys' wealth but their understanding of their rights which has kept police at bay.