TACOMA — Two guilty verdicts handed down by Clallam County juries in 2004 have been overturned by a state appeals court this month because of misconduct by prosecutors.
The state Division II Court of Appeals reversed the convictions of Christopher Lee Brown, 46, and David Toby Mackey, 52, because county prosecutors used less-than-artful language while arguing the cases in front of juries.
Brown, of Sequim, was convicted of two counts of second-degree burglary and one count of trafficking in stolen property for possessing property stolen from a Sequim storage unit, according to court documents.
Mackey, of Port Angeles, was convicted of second-degree child molestation for abusing a 12-year-old girl over the course of about a year, court documents say.
Improper comments
The appeals court unanimously ruled Dec. 28 in the Mackey case that former Deputy Prosecutor John Prentiss made improper comments to the jury that could have affected the verdict, including anecdotes about an abused ice skater.
In the Brown case, the appeals court unanimously found Dec. 13 that Deputy Prosecutor Lauren Erickson had repeatedly called the defendant a liar during closing arguments, unfairly influencing the jury.
With Mackey, Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Deborah Kelly conceded that Prentiss’ statements were improper.
Prentiss resigned in October, but Erickson still works for Kelly.
Kelly said she did not have plans to discipline Erickson.
“I’m not disciplining anyone for what is not intentional misconduct,” she said.
In the case of Brown, Kelly said Erickson made a mistake in her argument.
“Lauren did not tie her argument close enough to the evidence, to the point that it became personal opinion instead of an argument from evidence,” Kelly said.
In the case of Mackey, Kelly said Prentiss had not tried a sex crime case before and became personally involved.
“All good trial lawyers tend to be passionate about their cases, at least the ones they take to trial,” Kelly said.
