PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office will appeal a state appeals court ruling overturning Michael J. Pierce’s conviction in the deaths of Pat and Janice Yarr.
Prosecutors don’t yet know if they will request the state appeals court to review the case again or if they will appeal to the state Supreme Court.
The decision must be made soon.
“We have another week to appeal to the Court of Appeals. Otherwise, we will go to the Supreme Court,” said Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Chris Ashcraft on Tuesday.
Pierce, a Quilcene resident, was convicted in 2010 of the first-degree murders of the Yarrs, who were known as “icons” in the timber industry on the North Olympic Peninsula, after they were shot to death March 18, 2009, in their farmhouse on Boulton Road north of Lake Leland. The house was then set on fire.
In a July 17 decision, the appeals court unanimously reversed the conviction — for which Pierce, 36, is serving a life sentence at Walla Walla State Penitentiary — and remanded the case to Jefferson County for a new trial.
Pierce was sentenced to 1,415 months — or nearly 118 years — in prison for two counts of first-degree murder and the use of a firearm in each killing, first-degree robbery, arson, burglary, theft of a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm and second-degree theft of an access device — an ATM card.
The appeals court’s decision said it reversed the conviction because Pierce’s request for an attorney after he was arrested was not immediately honored and because of statements it said were “inappropriate” by the prosecutor in the case, Scott Rosekrans, who was chief criminal deputy at the time of the trial.
He was elected prosecuting attorney in 2010, having announced his candidacy for the position vacated by Juelie Dalzell just after the Pierce verdict.
During his rebuttal, Rosekrans imagined Pierce’s possible thought process and speculated on the Yarrs’ state of mind during the trial, both of which the court ruled as inappropriate.
“The prosecutor’s statements attributed to Pierce were calculated to portray Pierce as an impatient, amoral drug addict who refused to work and ‘want[ed] [his] meth now,’ as the prosecutor repeatedly put it,” the decision said.
“Such argument served no purpose but to inflame the jury’s prejudice against Pierce,” it said.
Said Mark Larranaga, Pierce’s attorney: “The basis of the court’s decision were the outrageous statements made by the prosecutor in his closing arguments and his erroneous conclusions.
“He should have learned that his comments were inappropriate, and he shouldn’t need the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeals to tell him again,” Larranaga added.
Ashcraft said the basis of the new appeal will be that the appeals court didn’t consider facts in context.
“There were a number of facts they ignored,” Ashcraft said. “And they didn’t consider the context.
“Having three judges make a decision using selected testimony is different than being in court and looking the victims in the eye.”
Ashcraft said that “while not saying so outright, the appeals court inferred that Scott made up a lot of his closing argument.
“When you read the closing argument in context with the opening argument and the rest of the trial transcripts, you see that everything he said had a basis in fact.”
After the appeals court decision, Rosekrans said his rebuttal statements were a reaction to what defense attorneys had said during closing, adding that he might do things differently if he had to give the closing again.
If an appeal is made to the state Supreme Court and it declines to hear the case, then the Court of Appeals’ decision would stand, and Pierce would get a new trial.
If this occurs, Rosekrans expects the retrial would occur outside of Jefferson County, though his staff would again prosecute the case.
If the Supreme Court hears the case, it could either uphold the Court of Appeals decision or reverse it, the latter meaning that Pierce would continue to serve his sentence.
“That’s what we are hoping for, that there will be no retrial,” Ashcraft said.
“That would be the best for everybody, except for Pierce.”
Said Larranaga: “Pierce was not given a fair trial.
“The prosecutor should just allow the case to be remanded back to Superior Court.”
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
