PORT TOWNSEND — Unanticipated expenses related to the arrest, double-murder trial and jury conviction of Michael J. Pierce approach $350,000.
Some — probably most — of that will be covered under the Extraordinary Criminal Justice Costs Act, Jefferson County Administrator Philip Morley said.
The state Legislature has budgeted $197,000 for 2009 expenses related to the Pierce trial through that law.
Apply for additional funds
The county will apply for an additional $144,000 at the beginning of December to cover Pierce trial costs in 2010.
That means expenses incurred by the county’s prosecuting attorney’s office, Sheriff’s Office, the county Superior Court system and Pierce’s public defense will not result in county staff cuts, as Prosecuting Attorney had feared.
It will, however, require some budget shuffling, Morley said.
“There won’t be any layoffs,” said Morley, who is in charge of the cash-strapped county’s budgeting process that over the past year has resulted in employees lost through layoffs and attrition in 2009, primarily in the county Department of Community Development.
Morley said this means the county will have to cover expenses incurred until the state sends a check.
County share unknown
“We also have to absorb the part that doesn’t get reimbursed,” he said, which will not be known until after the state considers the county’s second request for extraordinary justice system costs.
“We will have to find money to loan ourselves between funds and allow to pay back over time and allow the state to pay it back,” Morley said. “But we’re very dependent on the state.”
A nine-woman, three-man jury on March 26 found Pierce, a 35-year-old former Sequim and Quilcene resident and Peninsula College student, guilty of the March 18, 2009, murders of Pat Yarr, 60, and Janice Yarr, 57, and of the arson of their Boulton Road home north of Lake Leland to cover up the crimes.
The Jefferson County Prosecutor’s Office seeks a life sentence for Pierce.
Hearing dates
Jefferson County Superior Court Judge Craddock Verser has set a 1:30 p.m. May 19 hearing date for arguments for a new trial for Pierce, whose jury included members who misunderstood key testimony that led to the guilty verdict, according to the court transcript.
After the verdict, the Peninsula Daily News and The Leader weekly newspaper interviewed at least two jurors who misinterpreted key testimony that they believed linked Pierce to the murder scene.
These newspaper accounts provided the basis for defense attorney Richard Davies’ request for a new trial.
Davies has also said he plans to appeal the verdict.
Verser said the jury misunderstanding is not the basis for a new trial, but agreed to hear Davies’ motion.
Verser rescheduled the sentencing hearing for 1:30 p.m. May 24.
If the new-trial motion is granted, the sentencing will be canceled, said county Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Scott Rosekrans, who has announced he will run for Dalzell’s job in the November general election.
Dalzell is not seeking re-election
Expenses
County Auditor Donna Eldridge said as of last Monday, the county had incurred a total of $348,987.54 in expenses.
That includes $139,703.79 in Superior Court costs and $132,772.53 in Sheriff’s Office expenses, much of which is for overtime to deputies who provided heavy courtroom and county courthouse security during the trial.
Other costs included in the calculations so far:
• $50,414 for a public defender and a court-appointed attorney for Pierce, who was represented by Jefferson County Associated Counsel’s court-appointed attorney, Davies, and Mark Larranaga with Walsh & Larranaga.
• Prosecutor’s Office — $20,103.30.
• Superior Court clerk’s office — $1,397.40.
• $4,597.52 to assist crime victims, which includes counseling.
Morley in December petitioned the Washington State Office of Public Defense for $282,201.58.
The Office of Public Defense recommended the amount of $197,000 to the state Senate and House Ways and Mean committees, which in turn asked for state Legislature approval. That was granted in the last legislative session.
“We don’t have that yet,” Eldridge said.
Eldridge said her office has not yet seen a list of what was not covered under state law and does not know why some expenses claimed were denied.
Not yet figured into overall trial expense are additional costs covering the cost of housing Pierce in the Jefferson County jail in Port Hadlock.
That expense is estimated at $41,499.99 as of Friday.
First time
Eldridge said it is the first time the Jefferson County Auditor’s Office has tracked extraordinary criminal justice expenses.
Jefferson County’s state funding request competed with Benton, Franklin and King counties. King County alone requested about $3.9 million, while Benton and Franklin requested $175,505 and $128,020, respectively.
In a Dec. 10 letter requesting state funding to Rene Davis with the Washington State Office of Public Defense, Morley explained that the county suffered substantial general fund budget cuts in 2009.
“Being a small rural county, we have been fortunate in not having to deal with this type of crime very often, which is also unfortunate in the respect that the county does not have the budget capacity to cover the extraordinary costs incurred because of the nature of the extraordinary prosecution and defense required in such a case,” he wrote.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
