The Washington Supreme Court ruling in Washington v. McEnroe (& Washington v. Anderson) is available in Adobe .pdf format.
"Justices OK pursuit of death penalty in Carnation case," is the AP report, via the Everett Daily Herald.
The state Supreme Court says prosecutors can seek the death penalty against two people accused of killing a family of six in Carnation on Christmas Eve 2007.
In a unanimous decision Thursday, the justices said King County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ramsdell was wrong to bar Prosecutor Dan Satterberg from pursuing capital punishment for Michele Anderson and her former boyfriend, Joseph McEnroe.
The two are charged with aggravated first-degree murder in the slaughter of Anderson's family -- her parents, brother, sister-in-law, and her young niece and nephew.
Their lawyers argued that in deciding whether to seek death, Satterberg improperly considered the strength of his case -- rather than only whether there was mitigating evidence that should warrant leniency. The lower court judge agreed.
But the justices said that argument made little sense. The court ruled that prosecutors may consider how strong their case is, as long as they also consider any mitigating factors."Prosecutors, in exercising their executive functions, better serve the public by holistically considering all facts and circumstances related to the crime, which, realistically, include the strength of evidence," Justice Charles Wiggins wrote for the court. "Given the time and expense it takes to prepare and try a capital case, it makes good sense for a prosecutor to seek the death penalty only when the prosecutor believes there is a good chance of obtaining a conviction."
The Seattle Times posts, "Decision to seek death penalty upheld in case of accused Carnation killers," by Jennifer Sullivan.
The state Supreme Court has ruled that King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg did not err when he decided to seek the death penalty against a former couple in connection with the Christmas Eve 2007 slayings of six people in Carnation.
Justices, in their ruling, ordered the trials of Michele Anderson and Joseph McEnroe to proceed. If convicted in King County Superior Court, the two could be sentenced to death.
“The King County prosecuting attorney followed the statutory requirements when he considered whether mitigating circumstances merited leniency and when he determined that they did not,” according to the unanimous ruling authored by Justice Charles Wiggins. “… we reverse the trial court and remand this matter with instructions to reinstate the notices of special sentencing proceeding so that the capital prosecutions against McEnroe and Anderson may finally proceed to trial.”
In January, King County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ramsdell ruled that prosecutors could not seek the death penalty in the slayings of six members of Anderson’s family: her parents, brother, sister-in-law and the younger couple’s two preschool-aged children. Ramsdell found that Satterberg erroneously considered the strength of the state’s evidence against McEnroe and Anderson in deciding whether to seek the death penalty.
Ramsdell said that prosecutors should only have weighed whether mitigating circumstances existed in the decision to seek the death penalty.
Satterberg’s office then asked the Supreme Court to reverse Ramsdell’s decision, reinstate the death-penalty notice and remand the case to Superior Court for trial.
Earlier coverage of the Washington case begins at the link.
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