PORT ANGELES — The prosecuting attorney who put Darold Stenson on death row testified Tuesday that no evidence was withheld from the defense during the Sequim man’s double-murder trial 16 years ago.
David Bruneau, the elected Clallam County prosecuting attorney from 1982-1998, appeared in Clallam County Superior Court on the fifth day of a hearing to determine whether Stenson, who is present in court, deserves a new trial.
Stenson was convicted in 1994 in the murders of his wife and business partner on his Dungeness Valley exotic bird farm the prior year.
He was scheduled to be executed in December 2008, but that was stayed to allow further DNA testing, which has yet to be completed.
Judge Ken Williams, who is presiding over the hearing, will make a recommendation on whether Stenson should receive a new trial to the state Supreme Court by March 30.
The purpose of the hearing, expected to finish today, is to determine whether possible evidence contamination discovered by Stenson’s lawyers last year justifies a new trial.
His lawyers, Robert Gombiner and Sheryl McCloud of Seattle, are arguing that a photograph of a Clallam County sheriff’s detective sergeant wearing the blood-stained jeans Stenson is said to have been wearing the day of the murders shows that the results of a gunshot residue test cannot be trusted.
The jeans were worn by then-Det. Sgt. Monty Martin at the request of a contracted forensics examiner to show whether Stenson could have gotten the blood on them by kneeling by the victims.
The photo, taken in 1994 before the trial, is significant, his lawyers are arguing, because it shows Martin not wearing gloves and the right pocket turned inside out.
An FBI examination conducted shortly afterward found gun-shot residue in the same pocket.
McCloud and Gombiner say the photo shows that the residue, made of microscopic particles emitted when a gun is fired, could have its way into Stenson’s pockets by some means other than his hands.
Denise Stenson and Frank Hoerner were both shot with a handgun.
To justify a new trial, the lawyers must show that the picture wasn’t available to Stenson’s legal defense in 1994.
While Bruneau testified that the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office provided Stenson’s defense with all the documents it had, he said he became aware before the trial that Martin, who is now a staff sergeant with the Sheriff’s Office, had worn the jeans.
Bruneau said he found out about it when reading Martin’s report from that day.
Despite further questioning from Gombiner, it remained unclear whether or not that report was given to Stenson’s attorney.
The photo itself, showing the pocket turned inside out, was not used as evidence during the trial and Bruneau, who is now a Thurston County senior deputy prosecuting attorney, said he was not aware of it until Tuesday.
When asked by Gombiner why he didn’t investigate the handling of the pants after seeing the report, Bruneau said he didn’t think it would impact the FBI’s test.
“It was a mistake on Sgt. Martin’s part,” he said. “But it didn’t matter.”
Bruneau commented earlier that Martin, who is expected to take the stand today, has always been a “man of integrity.”
Stenson, who is being held in Clallam County jail for the hearing, testified Monday and briefly Tuesday.
Judge Williams halted Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly — who is representing the state during the hearing along with Special Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Pam Loginsky — from asking another round of questions Tuesday after Gombiner objected.
Kelly had asked how Stenson felt about not representing himself, which was found not to be relevant to the hearing. She had no further questions.
The hearing was initially expected to wrap up last Thursday.
McCloud and Gombiner expressed frustration Tuesday over the extended timeline for questioning witnesses.
Judge Williams also commented on the slow pace after Gombiner objected to a line of questioning by Loginsky, saying it lacked relevance and took too long to get to the point.
“This is sort of to me like watching paint dry,” Williams said.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
