On October 12, Westword's Michael Roberts reported that, according to KCNC CBS4 general manager Walt DeHaven, the first step the station takes in deciding whether to air a political ad is checking to make sure that sourcing is provided for pertinent claims. However, also on October 12, CBS4 reporter Raj Chohan revealed in a written “Reality Check” posted on CBS4's website that Bob Beauprez's (R) gubernatorial campaign has refused to provide the station with sourcing for a critical claim in an ad that attacks Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter's record as Denver district attorney. CBS4 aired Chohan's “Reality Check” report during its October 12 broadcast of CBS4 News at 10 p.m. CBS4 also aired the Beauprez ad, titled “Case File,” during a commercial break in the same broadcast.

In “Case File,” the Beauprez campaign claims that an illegal immigrant whom Ritter's office plea-bargained for a December 2001 drug charge later was arrested for sexual abuse of a minor. According to Chohan's research, the person pictured in the ad actually was arrested in Denver under the name Walter Ramo. On the broadcast version of the “Reality Check,” Chohan reported, regarding the ad's assertion that the person was “arrested again for the sexual abuse of a minor,” that "[t]he claim is true regarding a guy named Eugene Estrada, who did get arrested in 2003 in California for a sex offense to a minor and later plea bargained to a misdemeanor. The Beauprez camp says he and Ramo are the same guy."

Chohan gave greater detail in the written version of the “Reality Check,” reporting that the Beauprez campaign has refused to provide sourcing for the claim that Ramo and Estrada are the same person. Chohan stated that "[t]he Beauprez campaign says Ramo is one of about seven aliases Estrada Medina uses, but I haven't been able to independently confirm that claim. The Beauprez campaign says the information comes from a proprietary source which they can't reveal." Chohan also stated in the written “Reality Check” that “it occurred to me that if Beauprez' information is correct, he must have some source with access to a federal database indexed by fingerprints. John Marshall of the Beauprez camp was unwilling to talk about his source, only calling the person proprietary.”

Other media outlets also have reported that the ad is unsourced and that they have not been able to verify the claim that the person arrested under the name Walter Ramo in Denver is the same person arrested in California under the name Eugene Estrada. For instance, the Rocky Mountain News reported “Denver court records identified the defendant only as Walter Noel Ramo, with no alias, so there's no evidence showing Ramo and the man identified in the ad as Carlos Estrada Medina are the same person. The Beauprez campaign provided no records confirming the defendant's sex offense arrest in California.” Similarly, the written version of a 9News “Truth Test” of the ad reported:

Beauprez's campaign says it has information proving the [sic] Walter Noel Ramo is, in fact, Carlos Estrada Medina. Campaign Manager John Marshall told 9NEWS, “in federal criminal databases, the guy's information matches up.” Information provided by Marshall indicates two separate dates of birth for the two. (4/02/79 for Estrada, 11/02/79 for Ramo) However, Marshall says Estrada Medina and Ramo's FBI numbers and A-numbers (alien numbers gathered by federal immigration officials) are the same. (Source: Marshall interview with 9NEWS, 10/11/06).

9NEWS has not been able to verify that claim independently. 9NEWS filed a Freedom of Information request with the FBI to see if Ramo and Medina are one and the same, but officials have not yet replied.

Despite the fact that CBS4 is airing a political ad featuring a claim that the station's own reporter says is unsourced, Westword reported that, according to DeHaven, the “first round” of CBS4's political ad-vetting process involves checking to make sure that sourcing is provided for pertinent claims. The Westword article did not indicate what action the station takes if pertinent claims are found to be unsourced or unverifiable.

From Roberts's October 12 Westword article:

A spot's arrival at a station begins what Channel 4's DeHaven calls “the first round.” After checking to make sure that sourcing is provided for pertinent claims, he says, “our traffic-continuity people view the commercial, along with someone we've selected from our human-resources department -- and they look to see if something jumps out as being patently false. That's the first red flag that would come up, and if anyone is uncomfortable with anything in any way, it comes to me.” If DeHaven sees possible problems, the campaign is contacted and given an opportunity to present further evidence in the ad's favor. If not, the commercial is approved for broadcast, and that's the end of the process unless representatives from the opposing campaign have a gripe -- which, this year, they almost always do. “It's happening more in this election than any I've ever been involved in,” DeHaven says. “The other side will already be aware of a spot before it even goes on the air, and they'll shoot us a letter saying, 'This is false.' And that's when we'll send it to our lawyers in New York and let them decide.”

In the article, Westword detailed only the ad-vetting process purportedly employed by CBS4, not by other Denver news stations. Westword noted that “Channel 7 general manager Darrell Brown and Channel 9 president and general manager Mark Cornetta each declined” to be interviewed for the article.

From Chohan's article “Beauprez Continues Attacks On Ritter's Record” posted on the CBS4 website on October 12:

AD STARTS:

CASE FILE, CARLOS ESTRADA MEDINA, ILLEGAL ALIEN, FELON, ARRESTED IN DENVER FOR DISTRIBUTION OF HEROIN.

COMMENTARY:

I'm not sure who Carlos Estrada Medina is, because the guy pictured in this ad was arrested in Denver under the name Walter Ramo. The Beauprez campaign says Ramo is one of about seven aliases Estrada Medina uses, but I haven't been able to independently confirm that claim. The Beauprez campaign says the information comes from a proprietary source which they can't reveal. I checked with the Denver DA's office, and they have no other aliases on file for Walter Ramo and couldn't conclusively confirm his name was actually Walter Ramo (source: Lynn Kimbrough, Denver District Attorney's office).

I also checked with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and ran several names through the CBI's statewide database, including Walter Ramo and Carlos Estrada Medina. The only hit I found was on Ramo.

[...]

AD CONTINUES:

ESTRADA IS ARRESTED AGAIN FOR SEXUAL ABUSE OF A MINOR

COMMENTARY:

That's also true. That is, if Estrada and Ramo are the same guy. Curiously, it's not an easy thing to confirm. There was an arrest in San Francisco. The suspect, who used the name Eugene Estrada, was charged with sexual battery of a minor, and plea bargained to misdemeanor battery in 2003 (source: Debbie Menloh, spokesperson for San Francisco County District Attorney's Office).

The Beauprez campaign says Ramo and Estrada are the same guy. The San Francisco DA's office wasn't aware of the alias Ramo and wouldn't send us a mug shot (because it's against policy there) so we might visually confirm it. Immigration and Customs Enforcement wasn't much help, either. Spokesman Tim Counts said even if they did have some files on this guy, they couldn't tell me much about it because of privacy issues. And after running a few searches for me, Counts said they didn't have anything matching the names and birth dates I gave them. At this point it occurred to me that if Beauprez's information is correct, he must have some source with access to a federal database indexed by fingerprints. John Marshall of the Beauprez camp was unwilling to talk about his source, only calling the person proprietary.

From the October 12 broadcast of KCNC's CBS4 News at 10 p.m.:

JIM BENEMANN (co-anchor): We're seeing a new attack ad in the already bruising race for governor. This one slams Democrat Bill Ritter for a plea deal he made with an illegal immigrant. Is it fair? CBS4's Raj Chohan gives the ad a “Reality Check.”

CHOHAN: Bob Beauprez has a confusing new ad blasting Bill Ritter for a plea bargain he made with an illegal immigrant. Why is it confusing? Because the poster boy in this ad apparently has multiple aliases.

AD: Case File: Carlos Estrada Medina, illegal alien, felon, arrested in Denver for distribution of heroin.

CHOHAN: I'm not sure who Carlos Estrada Medina is, but the guy pictured in this ad was arrested in 2001 in Denver for drugs under the name Walter Ramo. Is that his real name? We're not sure at this point. It may be an alias.

AD: Prosecutor Bill Ritter plea bargains down to agricultural trespassing.

CHOHAN: The claim is true. Bill Ritter did plea-bargain the drug charges down to felony trespass on farmlands. I checked with the DA's office to find out why. They told me the case had evidence problems. What kind of problems? Here are some facts from the case. In December 2001, Ramo was spotted getting out of a car. Police arrested the driver and found drugs. That suspect said he bought the drugs from Ramo. But when police later arrested Ramo, he had no drugs in his possession and no criminal record in Colorado, but the other guy did. So prosecutors were stuck, wondering who to believe. So they sent Ramo to drug court, where the DA's office says his name and status as an illegal immigrant would have been referred to immigration authorities. Was it? I checked with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and they have no record of Walter Ramo in their database. But they were quick to point out that it doesn't mean the name was never given to them. So Ritter plea-bargained the drug charges down to felony trespass on lands, and Ramo was sentenced to probation and drug treatment after serving a couple of months in jail. He eventually skipped out on his probation and left the state.

AD: He's arrested again for the sexual abuse of a minor.

CHOHAN: The claim is true regarding a guy named Eugene Estrada, who did get arrested in 2003 in California for a sex offense to a minor and later plea bargained to a misdemeanor. The Beauprez camp says he and Ramo are the same guy. But even if they are, it's hard to blame Bill Ritter for a California case he had nothing to do with. Should Ritter have done more to make sure Ramo was deported? Well, according to the DA's office, they did all they could do -- that is, they notified immigration enforcement at the time, but the feds didn't follow up. Well, what about the plea bargain, trespassing on farmlands? Could they have gotten this guy on something more substantial? Arguably, they could have, but again, the DA's office says the case had evidence problems, and other prosecutors I've talked to say plea bargains in cases like this are pretty routine. In the end, whether Bill Ritter made the right call on this case is a matter for you to decide. I'm Raj Chohan. That's a Reality Check.

BENEMANN: You can watch all of Raj's “Reality Check” reports at CBS4Denver.com. You will also find his sources and notes for those reports.

The Beauprez campaign's “Case File” ad, as aired during the October 12 broadcast of KCNC's CBS4 News at 10 p.m.:

AD: Case File: Carlos Estrada Medina, illegal alien, felon, arrested in Denver for distribution of heroin. Prosecutor Bill Ritter plea bargains down to agricultural trespassing. Estrada avoids deportation and walks away with probation. He's arrested again for the sexual abuse of a minor. Bill Ritter's bad judgment allowed felons who should have been deported to plea bargain. That was Ritter's policy. How many more of these criminals walk our streets now?