Potential Death Penalty case- County refuses to explain why it cost $2million dollars

[ljs]

With several threads discussing some cases on the death penalty, I thought this story would be interesting to post.

http://www.yakimaherald.com/stories/5067 click for full article, a bit long so only posted part of it.

"Months after two men were convicted and sentenced for murder, Yakima County officials are refusing to release records of how defense attorneys in the case spent $2 million in taxpayer dollars.

County officials have turned down a public records request by the Yakima Herald-Republic on the grounds that billing records are sealed by a Superior Court judge and the courts are not governed by the Washington State Public Records Act.

The bills were submitted to Yakima County by several attorneys defending two men convicted of killing a father and his 3-year-old daughter in their Yakima apartment in 2005.

The Herald-Republic, which has chronicled the unprecedented cost of the case as it unfolded over the course of three years and has worked for months to gain access to the billing records, will file suit today against Yakima County.

Herald-Republic Editor and Vice President Sarah Jenkins said Thursday the records quest is more than a simple exercise in open government and that the unusual procedural history of the case, along with the huge billings by defense attorneys and the fact that those same billings remain off-limits, has long-term implications on public policy.

"This isn't about the

Herald-Republic's right to this information -- it's about the people's right to know how $2 million of their money was spent," she said.

The newspaper is suing only as a last resort, she said, noting the Herald-

Republic has incurred more than $10,000 in legal fees in the case so far during a time when slumping revenues are causing significant concern in much of newspaper industry.

"We have tried every tack short of a lawsuit to break through this unfathomable system," she said. "Part of the frustration has been that we never get a yes or no on our request for documents. It's always, 'We'll have to ask somebody else.'"

Yakima County Prosecutor Ron Zirkle said he supports the newspaper's attempt to gain access to the billing records but also does not want to run afoul of the court.

He said his deputies will file a motion, supplementary to the newspaper's lawsuit, asking the court for direction. "My job is to follow the law," he said, "only I don't know what the law is."

The dispute centers on the billings submitted by court-appointed attorneys for Jose "Junior" Sanchez and Mario "Gato" Mendez, who were accused and convicted in the shooting deaths of 21-year-old Ricky Causor and his 3-year-old daughter, Mya, during a drug rip-off in Yakima in February 2005.

By the time the trial was over earlier this year, two sets of lawyers for Sanchez, who was a candidate for the death penalty, had racked up nearly $1.5 million in defense spending. The team defending Mendez, who was not considered for the death penalty, spent just over $561,000.

[ljs]

This happened in the city where I was a cop. This particular incident occurred less than a year after I retired for law enforcement. The victim, Ricardo Causor, was a gang member that I had known my entire life as a cop. While he turned into dealing weed, he really had made attempts to make his life right. Ricky worked at the Army base near our town, and really wanted to join. The problem was that he had felony convictions as a juvenile, and the Army wouldn't take him.

When Mya was born, Ricky called me. I would go by his house nearly ever day. About a year after he was killed, I visited his mom and girlfriend and youngest daughter (who both were shot, but survived)

I find it interesting that we wasted all that money for attorneys who were kicked off the case and the prosecutor never even went for the death penalty.