PORT TOWNSEND — The state Court of Appeals has overturned the conviction of Michael J. Pierce, who was found guilty of killing Pat and Janice Yarr of Quilcene in 2009.
In a 27-page decision issued Tuesday, the appeals court unanimously reversed the March 2010 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.
The court’s decision centered around Pierce’s request for an attorney after he was arrested that was not immediately honored and statements it said were “inappropriate” made by the prosecutor in the case, Scott Rosekrans.
Rosekrans, who was chief criminal deputy at the time of the trial, was elected as county prosecuting attorney in 2010, having announced his candidacy just after the Pierce verdict.
Rosekrans said he had not decided as of Tuesday whether to ask the appeals court to reconsider, to appeal to the state Supreme Court or to conduct a retrial.
“A retrial is not a foregone conclusion,” Rosekrans said.
“We still have some other avenues available to us and can ask other judges to review the decision that was made by this court.”
At the trial, prosecutors said the Quilcene man shot the Yarrs in the head, robbed them of their bank debit card and burned their home using what prosecution experts testified was an accelerant such as gasoline.
With Pierce’s conviction on double-murder, arson, burglary, firearm and theft charges, he was sentenced to 1,415 months, or just under 118 years.
He will remain in custody for the duration of any appeal or retrial action and will be released only if a retrial jury finds him not guilty, Rosekrans said.
In the appeal, Pierce’s attorney, Mark Larranaga of Seattle, argued that Pierce was not given access to an attorney upon his arrest shortly after the Yarrs’ murder.
The appeals court ruled that Pierce’s request for an attorney was unequivocal, [and] “the trial court erred in concluding that jail staff took reasonable efforts to put Pierce in contact with an attorney.
“The trial court’s finding that the public defender’s business number was posted near the booking phone does not support its conclusion that corrections staff took reasonable efforts to place Pierce in contact with an attorney,” the court decision said.
“Pierce’s subsequent statements should have been suppressed,” the decision said.
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.
The Yarrs, described as “icons” in the timber industry at their memorial service that drew 700 people, were known throughout the North Olympic Peninsula.
Rosekrans said on Tuesday that his rebuttal statements were a reaction to what defense attorneys had said during closing.
“They were theorizing that the crime was committed by someone who was just passing through, that things like this don’t happen in a rural county where everyone knows each other,” he said.
“I was reacting to that, showing that crimes like these can occur here and can be committed by people that you know.”
If a retrial is granted it may be moved to another county in order to access a jury pool that is not familiar with the case, something that Rosekrans said could be difficult in Jefferson County.
“One of the complaints in the appeal was that the court should have granted a change of venue for the original trial but the appeals court didn’t think that was an issue at the time,” Rosekrans said.
“That may change and a retrial could take place in another county.”
If this occurs, Rosekrans and his staff would travel to that location and prosecute the retrial.
Three boxes of case files have remained in Rosekrans’ office since the original conviction “because we knew there was an appeal and we didn’t want to send them to the archives where we’d have to hunt around for them if we needed them.”
If the case is retried, the self-incriminating statements Pierce made after he had requested a lawyer would be excluded.
If there is a retrial, Rosekrans said he would act differently and not make the same closing statement, but feels the evidence will hold up.
“During some cases when a key piece of evidence is excluded, you think that you can’t proceed without it but that’s not the case here,” he said.
“There is still enough circumstantial evidence to go forward,” he said.
“We still have him on videotape shoplifting, on camera at an ATM using the Yarrs’ stolen card and we can place him in the area.
“There is still enough evidence for a jury to consider.”
A call to Larranaga for comment was not returned on Tuesday.
Rosekrans said he has talked about the case with the Yarrs’ family.
“They were disappointed and wanted to know what the options are,” he said.
“I told them what choices we had, and that we were deciding what to do.”
Rosekrans said he did not have a time frame for his decision “but it won’t be in the next 24 hours.”
If a retrial occurs, it will probably not take place this year, he said.
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
