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By Karen Rouse and Kieran Nicholson Denver Post Staff Writers Saturday, April 21, 2001 - GOLDEN - It was the video images of Candace - trapped, pleading for help, dying - that jurors couldn't seem to shake.
"I wanted to grab her and love her and take her little face. ... I wanted to save her," Docker said. "That was the hardest, that you couldn't jump into the TV. I wanted to pull them off and say, "Don't you hear her?'" The jury of six men and six women delivered guilty verdicts Friday in the trial of therapists Connell Watkins and Julie Ponder. The defendants were handcuffed and led out of court after the verdict was read. Jurors, finally free to discuss their feelings, shared with reporters the love they had come to feel for the 10-year-old who died a year ago during a rebirthing session led by Ponder and Watkins. The jurors emerged from the courtroom carrying yellow daffodils, a gift from Judge Jane Tidball. Contrary to the combative, disobedient child described by the defendants, the jurors described Candace Newmaker as an affectionate child. "We do definitely love Candace," juror Jim Ball said. "Given our human frailty, it's hard to imagine any good coming out of such a trial." But if there is any good, he said, it's that Candace is no longer suffering. "She's with a father and a brother. ... Now she's at peace." Over the years, Ball said, he and his wife adopted 25 foster children, Candaceincluding 13 who had disorders. Candace was being treated for reactive attachment disorder and had been diagnosed with several other disorders. Juror Ken Blackstone said his reaction to the videotape of the rebirthing session was difficult to put into words. "The tapes were the most difficult part for us," Blackstone said. "It was pretty hard for us to understand." He said he hopes the verdict sent a message to all therapists that "they're taking care of our children." Juror Bruce Coffman said it was difficult to watch the tape "just knowing she was dead" under a sheet and a pile of pillows after Ponder and Watkins disregarded her pleas. "I can't understand why anybody could do this," said Coffman, who is a father. It was also hard "just trying to keep everything to yourself day in and day out," he said. Coffman said deliberations were emotional and intense. Terri Carroll of Kittredge said the jurors read "the letter of the law" and put their emotions aside to arrive at the verdict. Still, she said, it was hard to come to the guilty verdict. During closing arguments, Deputy District Attorney Steve Jensen challenged the jurors to put the sheet that Candace was wrapped in over their own faces to experience how difficult it was for her to breathe. And they did, Ball said. "We took the sheet and put it over our faces and saw how hard it was to breathe through it. And that was without the pillow," he said. Docker said that because the jurors were prohibited from discussing the case, they bonded by sharing stories about their own lives and developing a "warped sense of humor." "We had a great group of people," Docker said. They plan to get together soon, said juror Marcia Hagel. "It was a real tight bond," she said. "Even though we're individuals, we still have a common bond. We have Candace."
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