PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office did not meet its legal obligation to provide evidence to the defense in the double-murder trial of Darold R. Stenson 17 years ago, according to Judge Ken Williams.
The Clallam County Superior Court judge, who presided over the 1994 trial, said in a report sent Thursday to the state Supreme Court that the defense should have been provided a photograph showing the lead investigator wearing Stenson’s blood-stained jeans and FBI lab bench notes.
But, as he previously has said, Williams wrote he doesn’t think the evidence would have changed the outcome of the trial.
Stenson, 58, is on death row at a state prison in Walla Walla after he was convicted of fatally shooting his wife and business partner on his exotic bird farm in Sequim in 1993.
The Supreme Court — which will determine whether the death-row inmate should have a retrial — asked the judge to determine if the evidence in question was “suppressed.”
Williams said the evidence was suppressed by legal standards, although there is no evidence that the prosecution knew about the photograph.
The bench notes, on the other hand, weren’t provided even though a request had been made, Williams said.
Sheryl McCloud, one of Stenson’s attorneys, said the Supreme Court will have to find that the evidence would have been enough to undermine confidence in the verdict for the 58-year-old man to get a new trial.
“We’ve proven that the state suppressed the evidence,” she said. “I don’t think they will disturb that factual ruling.
“So our task is to explain why suppressing the fact that evidence is tainted matters.”
McCloud was referring to the photograph that she alleges shows evidence contamination.
The investigator donned the jeans at the request of a blood-spatter expert who thought it would help determine whether Stenson got blood on his pants by kneeling by the victims or attacking them.
By doing so, Stenson’s attorneys argue, he contaminated evidence by not wearing gloves.
Six days after the photograph was taken, the FBI found gun-shot residue in the right front pocket of the pants. The same pocket is seen turned inside out in the photograph.
County Prosecuting At-torney Deb Kelly said she is “pleased” with Williams “ulti-mate conclusion” that the outcome of the trial wouldn’t have been changed.
Kelly, as a deputy prosecutor, helped file Stenson’s arrest warrant. She said that was the extent of her involvement in the case.
The bench notes are of significance to the defense because they show that the FBI agent who testified during the trial did not perform the test for gun-shot residue, contrary to what was believed at the time.
Williams also wrote last year that he doesn’t think the evidence would have changed the outcome. The Supreme Court asked him to readdress the issue to determine whether evidence was suppressed.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
