PORT ANGELES — A report that highlights how the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office suppressed evidence from convicted double-murderer Darold Stenson’s defense 21 years ago — ultimately resulting in a retrial that cost $1 million — underscores the need for prosecutors to “conduct themselves in a manner that is beyond reproach,” current prosecutor Mark Nichols said.
The state Supreme Court in May 2012 overturned Stenson’s 1994 conviction for the shooting deaths of his wife and business partner because prosecutors “wrongfully suppressed” an FBI file and photographs of ungloved former Sheriff’s Detective Monty Martin wearing Stenson’s blood-spattered jeans.
Stenson, a former death row inmate, was convicted for a second time in December 2013 for the 1993 murders of Frank Hoerner and Denise Stenson at the Stensons’ bird farm southwest of Sequim.
Stenson, 62, is now serving a life sentence at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.
The Associated Press moved an investigative story Monday that used the Stenson case to accentuate a rash of prosecutorial misconduct that has led to convictions being overturned while prosecutors skirt discipline.
The story noted that Stenson’s second trial in Kitsap County Superior Court cost Clallam County taxpayers $1 million, half of which was returned by the state Legislature to the county.
Last December, most of that $500,000 was distributed to Clallam County employees who had agreed to salary concessions and unpaid furlough days in 2011 to help the county’s then-hard-pressed budget.
Nichols, who was Clallam County’s chief deputy prosecuting attorney when Stenson’s first conviction was overturned, said he had little to do with the case and would not comment on the state Supreme Court ruling.
He did say he shares the philosophy of King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, who was quoted in the AP story as saying appellate cases involving prosecutor misconduct are used as a teachable moments.
“I believe that the job of prosecutor requires a commitment to doing what is right, not what is easy or popular,” Nichols said in a Monday email.
“The law holds prosecutors to a higher standard, as it should because prosecutors have the power to destroy lives.
“It is imperative that this power not be abused or used for any improper purpose lest the citizenry lose confidence in the prosecutor.”
Former Prosecuting Attorney David Bruneau filed the original charges against Stenson in 1993.
Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly, now retired, retried Stenson in December 2013.
Kelly was not immediately available for comment Monday.
The Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office disclosed in 2009 the photographs of Stenson’s blood-spattered jeans and an FBI file containing gunshot residue test results.
The Supreme Court concluded in its 8-1 ruling that the FBI file and photographs were favorable to Stenson and that the evidence was “wrongfully suppressed by the state.”
The 31-page opinion did not say why the evidence was suppressed.
“Our conclusion that Stenson did suffer prejudice is shaped largely by the fact that only two pieces of forensic evidence formed the basis for Stenson’s conviction — GSR [gunshot reside] and blood spatter,” the high court said.
The defense could have used the state’s mishandling of the bloody jeans to call into question the possible corruption of the key evidence, the court said.
“We are left with the fact that constitutionally significant mistakes were made in Stenson’s trial, resulting in imposition of the ultimate punishment without the full benefit of due process protections,” the ruling said.
A stay of execution was issued eight days prior to Stenson’s scheduled execution in 2008.
County prosecutors have argued that Stenson shot Hoerner because of a debt and shot his wife to collect life insurance money.
Stenson has appealed his second conviction in the Court of Appeals Division II in Tacoma.
Clallam County hired Jeremy Morris of the Port Orchard law firm Glisson & Morris PS to handle the appeal as a special deputy.
Morris said Monday a state’s response brief is due in December.
He said he did not expect any developments in the Stenson case until next year.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
