PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County is expected to hire a special deputy prosecutor to represent the county during Michael J. Pierce’s appeal of his November 2014 murder conviction.
Jeremy Morris, a Port Orchard private practice attorney who previously directed the Kitsap County prosecuting attorney’s appellate division, will be responsible for filing briefs and making necessary court appearances during the appeal, which is to take place before the state Court of Appeals Division II in Tacoma.
Currently, the only scheduled event for the case is an April 5 due date for the prosecutor’s brief. After that, the appeals attorney will have 30 days to respond.
The approval of Morris’ $12,000 contract is part of the consent agenda for the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners’ meeting at 9 a.m. Monday at the Jefferson County Courthouse, 1820 Jefferson St.
“We are hiring Jeremy so he can help us with the Pierce review,” Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Michael Haas said.
4 trials, 2 convictions
Pierce, 40, of Quilcene was tried four times and convicted twice of the 2009 murders of Quilcene residents Pat and Janice Yarr.
He is serving 117 years in prison for killing the Yarrs and then setting their home on fire.
At the fourth trial, Pierce was convicted on all counts: two counts of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree theft, one count of first-degree robbery, one count of first-degree burglary, one count of first-degree arson, one count of second-degree theft and two firearms violations.
Pierce was convicted in a 2010 trial by a Jefferson County jury and was serving a life sentence in prison when the state Court of Appeals overturned the verdict in 2012.
The court ruled that Pierce’s constitutional rights were denied after his arrest and that then-Prosecuting Attorney Scott Rosekrans’ closing argument represented prosecutorial misconduct.
The next two retrials — in Jefferson County in July 2013 and Kitsap County in March 2015 — ended in mistrials.
The first mistrial was called because a juror recalled seeing someone who might have been Pierce on the night of the murders.
The second was after Pierce was not given his anti-psychotic medication while he was in custody in the Kitsap County jail.
Pierce was convicted for the second time in Kitsap County Superior Court, selected during a venue change after the first mistrial.
Prior to the fourth trial, the county had spent more than $263,000 on the case, paying for both the prosecution and defense, as Pierce qualified for a public defender.
Points of brief
Haas said the medication error was one of three major points of the appellate brief filed by Manchester attorney Catherine Glinski.
Others include the admission of Jefferson County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mark Apeland’s testimony about Pierce’s image on the ATM and the inclusion of Pierce’s purchase of a pellet gun the night of the murders.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
