Updated at 8:35 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The convicted triple murderer who once called Onalaska home is seeking to the put an end to practices he contends are eavesdropping by the state on Lewis County Jail inmates, jeopardizing their rights to confidential communications with their lawyers.
And he’s already made some progress.
John Allen Booth Jr.
John Allen Booth Jr., now 34, is serving a life sentence at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla for the shootings in a Salkum area home almost three years ago. Prosecutors argued Booth and a fellow former cell mate visited a house off Gore Road because they were “taxing” the man who lived there – with his girlfriend and teenage son – on behalf of Lewis County drug dealer Robbie Russell.
In a typewritten motion, Booth tells of law enforcement officers standing outside the jail’s row of visiting rooms while he consulted with his attorneys and their investigators. He points out that people almost had to yell back and forth to be heard through the transparent partitions.
He states he could easily hear the conversations of other lawyers and accused persons all around him.
“On many occasions, other attorneys informed Mr. Booth and whoever with him he was consulting with they could hear everything that was being said, and there were sheriff’s deputies outside in the hallway,” Booth writes.
In his filing, Booth included affidavits by other former inmates to bolster his accusation, and a letter from Centralia attorney Don Blair.
The letter states it’s been an ongoing problem at the jail that Blair has brought up to the jail administration and judges, noting he told them it was only a matter of time that an inmate would have an issue with the lack of confidentiality during attorney visits.
“The state made sure they learned my trial strategy and harassed any witnesses I wanted to bring forth,” Booth wrote.
He calls it “ear hustling”.
The filing made in December is the reason Booth was scheduled to appear in Lewis County Superior Court this week, although his hearing was cancelled because Judge Richard Brosey was in trial.
The filing specifically alleges governmental misconduct and the state’s infringement of Booth’s right to counsel. It’s part of a motion to vacate the judgement and sentence based on court rule 7.8.
Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Brad Meagher said it’s separate from the appeal those convicted can make to the Washington State Court of Appeals.
“Defendants have this other option,” Meagher said. “You can move to set aside your judgement on a limited variety of grounds.”
A third avenue which can be pursued is called a personal restraint petition. Booth reportedly is working on all three types of appeals.
Lewis County Jail Chief Kevin Hanson said he began taking steps to mitigate the problem when he first found out it was an issue in recent months, after Booth’s motion was filed.
While routine jail visits were long ago moved to a computer screen system in which the inmate doesn’t leave the cell, the six cement-walled booths that remain are used for face to face visits with lawyers and sometimes others, according to Hanson. The glass partitions have small holes around their perimeter meant for voices to get across.
“These rooms were never totally soundproof,” Hanson said. “It’s the way they were designed.”
At first, the jail began restricting inmate-attorney visits to only one set at a time, Hanson said.
Now he has had phones installed on each side of each booth.
“We installed carpet to muffle sounds like chairs scratching on the floor,” he said. “And we’re installing sound board, acoustical sheeting, on the cement walls.”
Hanson has told the Lewis County Board of Commissioners it won’t fix all the related problems, but at least will show they’ve made an effort.
Hanson said it’s not an issue that corrections officers stand in the hallway, and that they do so for high-risk inmates.
Booth was held in the Lewis County Jail from August 27, 2010 until he was sentenced on Dec. 16, 2011 under the so-called three strikes law to life in prison with no chance for release.
The victims, David West Sr., 52; his son David “D.J.” West Jr., 16; and 50-year-old Tony Williams of Randle were each fatally shot in the head on Aug. 21, 2010. Denise Salts, 51, was shot in the face but survived. Booth was also convicted of attempted extortion and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Booth denied shooting any of them, although he admitted being at the home earlier in the evening saying West Sr. owed him money from a pound of methamphetamine.
Booth raised other issues in his motion, claiming a deputy told him he listened to recorded conversations Booth had with his attorney, jail staff snooped through his cell where he had defense strategy notes and read his mail and a sheriff’s detective sat directly behind he and his attorney during his trial eavesdropping. He also noted that during trial recesses a corrections officer always accompanied him and his lawyer into a room set aside for them.
He wrote in court documents his filings should be considered filed timely, as he spent his first full year in prison in “the hole” and couldn’t do it any sooner. He writes that he has been working diligently.
The court assigned defense attorney Erik Kupka and his office partner to represent Booth on the matters and they appeared before Judge Brosey in February. At that hearing, Booth asked the judge about other issues, such as DNA evidence from the autopsies that turned up in a locker at the coroner’s office long after his trial was over.
Booth stated in court documents he was told to file another motion. And he did.
At the end of March he filed new papers under the same type of motion claiming the state acted fraudulently for failing to disclose the DNA evidence, for failing to disclose a plea agreement with Salts and failing to notify the defense she had a multimillion dollar incentive by way of a lawsuit with the state Department of Corrections to help convict him.
In an accompanying letter, he requested Kupka be appointed to represent him on the supplemental motion. But added: “And if you don’t give me a lawyer, just let me know, and I’ll gladly represent myself.”
Kupka said this week he hasn’t been made aware of Booth’s new issues.
“He may be bringing it to the court’s attention, to have the court assign me,” he said. “That’s what you’ve got to do to get the ball rolling,” he said.
Meagher said the court hearing which was planned for Tuesday and didn’t happen was specifically to focus on a disagreement between he and Kupka.
“He wants the state to produce a lot of material,” Meagher said, giving as an example, a list of who works at the jail. “We said no.”
The court hearing was rescheduled for Sept. 3.
Also new in the six-volume court file are documents which hint at an issue Booth’s appellate counsel is looking at.
Attorney Stephanie Cunningham filed a request for transcripts from the proceedings during which jurors were selected, also known as voire dire.
Cunningham was appointed in May of last year to represent Booth for his appeal, which was filed for him the day he was sentenced.
His accompanying declaration states that his trial attorney Roger Hunko erred, and that a juror who was a neighbor of one of the deceased should have been struck for cause.
•••
For background, read “Judge will hear Onalaskan’s request to toss his murder convictions this coming September” from Monday February 4, 2013, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
@ There’s coffee & maple bars your one dumb motherfu!$#r….i never said i was booths wife.if you could read and understand the english language it says that i am married to JustbecauseIcan .last time i checked i had all ,my female parts i was born with.so jack off to that you stupid C-town inbred ….
@ msmommab…. your probably right, but I still dont have to like it…. and then there is the rocket scientist There’s coffee & maple bars … my God I wonder how you can remember how to breath…. there is a justbecauseIcan and a justbecauseshecan… maybe if you have someone help you with the words Im sure you can figure it out… all I can say is shame on your mom and her brother… do they even have books where you come from…. lol… anyway all I can say is my friend dint kill any of these people… they still remain dead but he didnt do it… I feel sorry for some of the family, and the rest wont pull their heads out of a meth sack long enough to see the errors of the way they are living…
@justbecauseIcan. Personally I don’t see the problem here. Regardless even if your friend didnt pull the trigger. He was still there and would still have been convicted on being an accomplice in a commission of a murder. With 3 strikes out law he would have been in jail for the rest of his life anyway. So all the complaining about evidence and everything else really doesn’t matter. Even is the judgement is set aside he will be retried and the end result would be the same. Regardless. JMO
Since I partly am required to work out of state, I’m not always on this site. I think it’s hilarious, as in the jokes on you, that in “her”
July 7th post JustBecauseICan states “she” is not a female.
Then two days later on July 9th claims to be a female. In fact to be Booth’s “wife”. But as I said in my own post on July 9th. That’s what I suspected all along. Thank goodness Washington state now has same sex marriage!
I bet somebodies enjoying those Walla Walla jail cell chili dogs.
He just needs to remember this old adage as he’s laying there with his face to his mattress: ” The best revenge is living well!”
Lets not forget when the Sheriff’s hand out an ass beatings in the Jail they just erase the video footage since they have illegal access to the recording devices.
Test
Seems like the only 2 people on here who give a darn about JB are Sharon k, and JustbecauseIcan. How sad that JB is such an upright citizen and he only has 2 people willing to soil their names for him. Now that’s funny.!!! John Booth is a
Sharon, does that mean, u are leaving the site hopefully. By the way u can quit shouting at everyone.
@ just sayin. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA LMAO LOL SEE HOW FUNNY I THINK U ARE!!!!!!!! THE FAMILY THREATNED TO HARM MY STEPSON WHO WAS 5 YRS OLD AT THE THE TIME!!!!!! SO ARE THEY ANY BETTER???? NO I DONT THINK. MY BF KNOWS JOHN ITS HIS BRO & HE KNOWS JOHN WOULD NEVER HARM A CHILD. SOME PEOPLE THESE DAYS!!!!! IM DONE ARGUIN LIKE LIL KIDS BOUT U CAN ARGUE WIT SUM ONE ELSE. ENJOY UR DAY!!!! 😉
I wouldn’t expect much, Free Air. Enablers usually attack the questioner somewhere between their “Who are you to judge?” and “You don’t know him/her like I do” comments. Honest answers? Forget it.
And once again you’ve added nothing to the conversation besides poor grammar and colorful metaphors.
But, I do just have to ask the question:
If jb didn’t gut shoot the boy while he was in his bedroom, then drag him out and murdered him alongside his already dead father, who did? Who in your corrupt state wide law enforcement community conspiracy world had enough connections to put jb’s DNA on the gun, bribe two eye witnesses, convince jb to run then talk to his buddies over the jail phone about where he hid the gun while hiding in Spokane, put his bloody footprints in the house, bribe his buddy he drove there with to testify, took bullets from jb’s gun and planted them inside the bodies of the murdered people, and pressured the papers and news programs in Washington to cover it all as if it were a murder and not some grand setup?
Look out folks, this ought to be good!
well there you have it… lmao… the coffee and maple bar queen has spoken again… it has to be all the inbreeding that makes you so infatuated with all that man loving…. lmao… but whatever floats your boat freak… I really dont care…. and then there is the infamous OMG if I only had a brain…. sorry, Im still laughing about the maple bar queen…. where have you been during all this… set down that meth pipe and read the paper or watch the news… I cant even fathom how you could possibly say “possible” drug house… Im thinking you need to go dry out somewhere and wake up to reality… Of course Booth was convicted… he got the lewis count okie doke… incomplete forensics, lies from the tweekers, and a juror that never should have been on that panel.. but what the fu@#… lol… his ass is in that courtroom again… showing the world how corrupt the legal system is and that they have no problem making sweet deals with a bunch of tweekers… hell lets give them tweekers a couple million… lmao… this is pretty comical really… Ive wasted way too much of my time on these posts… you imbeds are trying to drag me down to your level of stupid and kick my ass by experience….
@ There’s coffee & maplebars….not that i owe you a damm sec,but JustbecauseIcan is not gay and has never been.im female and he is my husband,so shut the f^$^% up and @ OMG Really??? your right he is angry because a good friend of ours is not getting the justice he/everyone deserves.and FYI ,JB has a beautiful daughter
@JustbecauseIcan says:
Who’s angry now? You seem to be just as angry as the CONVICTED JB. You keep missing the facts that are staring you in the face. Just beacuse the poor teenager had a “bad dad” or was raised in a “possible” drug environment makes it ok for JB to end his life? How sad is it that you refuse to see what we all see. JB is better off in a cement cell where he can sit for the rest f his days. Thankl god he didn’t ever breed…..and if there is a kid ou there of his let’s hope they won’t grow up around and turn into an angry murderer.
It’s really sad too read the love lorn heart sick mewling
of JustBecauseICan for his imprisoned boyfriend. I’m sure it must tear you up inside with jealousy knowing your old flame is now in the arms of another man. Your anguish is palpable as you pine for your swains’ return. Sadly as a mandatory three strikes lifer, I fear when your boy does finally return to you it will be in a box. I suggest you either move on or prepare for the inevitable.
I can’t see however, how having a partner who is unresponsive could be very satisfying. But too each their own. As for myself, I’m going outside to bask in the sunshine and breathe the free air.
man I love it when all you inbred drug addicts get so upset… you all fail to get it that booth was convicted with fabricated evidence, statements from addicts who had a monetary intensive to lie on the stand, and a juror that had no right to be on the panel… even salts said that Booth had his arms crossed when the shots were fired… As for being a child killer, that kid was in a drug house when his dad pulled out a shotgun to shoot… his dad was a shit stain on society… he brought his son into the drug world and the kid was 16 and could have left anytime he wanted to had he not enjoyed the drug filled life his dad had to offer… and as for all you freaks that like to picture all that man loving in your minds I think you need some counseling…. I dont believe there is a man walking that is gonna run John Booth’s joints… I would love to watch one of you sissy bi@#hes try it… lol… you people need something to believe in, I realize you are sitting there in your ratty ass chair with your meth pipes hating me right now and that just makes this so much more humorous for me… Booth was convicted on bullshit evidence, by a jury that was corrupted by a infiltrator that had no right to be there… he will get his case overturned, and most likely be found guilty again with more bullshit evidence and lies from the tweekers who got paid if they can remember the lines the prosecutor tells them… but mark my words he will be in court again because lewis county will once again violate his rights… I know you stupid imbeds say he has no rights because you believe what that tweeker salts had to say… I will tell you all one thing, booth has been my friend for longer than I will admit and he has never lied to me… he told me he didnt pull that trigger and thats all I need… Im just waiting for my friend to come home when the truth comes out… keep on hating….
ROTFFLMMFAO
@just because I can: I would rather have a couple of tweekers as neighbors than JB any day of the week. once those inmates realize he is a child killer they will probably violate every orifice on his body. once he looses his teeth you will then know he blows too.
He looks really clean. I’ll bet he’s a hoot in the showers!
That’s what the rest of his life is going to be. Showering with other men. I personally think, given his numerous recidivisms. And his willingness to please an older man. Kind of’ like being a ‘daddy’s boy’, ‘daddy’ being Robbie Russell. Booth maybe a latent homosexual, who’s desire to be surrounded by, and willingness to please other men, is actually at the root of why he is constantly incarcerated. Now for the rest of his ‘natural’ life. He may actually feel more comfortable in an all male environment. Prove me wrong.
Mr. Booth has a history of filing appeals every time he is convicted. That is his constitutional right. What it shows is that he is not stupid and is actually quite bright. I certainly do not condone what he did but it seems such a shame he did not put his talents to better use at a young age. As far as the victims…it does not matter what someone is doing….execution style murder is not the answer.
JustbecauseIcan says:
Monday, July 8, 2013 at 6:56 am
just when I think that nobody could possibly say anything more stupid than timplton…..
Vulgar language and baseless accusations do not a logical argument make.
You said nothing that changes anything about jb killing a child, just tried to muddy up the waters and change direction.
My brother and I went to school with Booth, he was the type of person who was just born angry. What seems to be missing in these comments is…. THE FACTS! Fact #1. Booth KILLED a father and his teenage son in cold blood. #2, It was not in self defense. #3. Booth was a hitman for a druglord. #4. Booth ran like a coward because even he knew that what he did was WRONG!
sharon of course you don’t care what any one thinks about you !!! your probably a drug addict too ….how sad :(Who in there right mind would stick up for someone who killed a kid !!!!! your just as a sick as booth !!!
Booth needs to rot in hell his privacy well screw u bro u need to be exicuted just like u did my family i wish ur fat ass would fall how do u like that statement u know its ur own words
just when I think that nobody could possibly say anything more stupid than timplton….. then there pops up freeair….. lmao… hey freeair have you ever thought of taking a position in the lewis co legal system..? because you are as corrupt as they are… why would all the evidence need to be logged in as exhibits in the case..? because in legal cases where the prosecution knows what they are doing that is how its done… Of course Booth was convicted by the statements of the tweekers who lived… salts had a multi-million dollar lawsuit as motivation to lie, along with the get out of jail free pass the prosecution gave her for her false statements… and then the jury… WTF… how could one of the neighbors of the people who got shot have made it onto the jury… that alone poisoned the whole case… there has been such a series of critical mistakes and outright lies by the police and so-called witnesses that booth didnt have a chance at a fair trial… not that anyone in tweeker county ever really stands a chance at a fair trial… This case is far from over… we will see how it plays out is all I can say… booth got railroaded by a corrupt system and a bunch of tweekers who sold their family for a couple million bucks.. so take your blood money and go get high you fu@#ing losers…..
It will happen
barks@flies says:
Saturday, July 6, 2013 at 11:32 pm
i’m sorta confused. was this person convicted for murder or not? was forensics involved in the conviction. i’ve read that some people believe that LCE is corrupt. true or not, IDK. my question is….did this person actually kill these people?
YES.
Beyond a reasonable doubt, as found by 12 Jurors via all the physical evidence presented and two eyewitnesses.
beenthere says:
Sunday, July 7, 2013 at 5:35 pmI think due to all the mistakes made in this case(for example, the DNA evidence found in a locker)there will be no choice but to overturn the conviction. Once it is overturned the man will once again be innocent untill proven guilty.
Educate us.
How does finding some fingernail clippings and hair from the murdered people in a secured corner locker cast any doubt on John being the murderer? It was extra evidence taken that should have never been stored like that, but it was not used by either the prosecution or defense. Just sat in the locker. Were it some conspiracy it would have been used not forgotten by a former employee.
Happy Wife Happy Life says:
Sunday, July 7, 2013 at 12:16 am
He is so gorgeous
So was Ted Bundy…
I guess I will never be surprised at the level of stupidity I see on these posts… here you have a guy bitching about someone who supposedly killed someone.. saying that he believes that anyone who disagrees with him should be hung with barb wire over a cliff….. so in reality he believes that killing people is ok as long as they are people he doesnt agree with… what a hypocrite…
I think john, and everyone else that defends him should hang…by barbwire…over a cliff.
I think due to all the mistakes made in this case(for example, the DNA evidence found in a locker)there will be no choice but to overturn the conviction. Once it is overturned the man will once again be innocent untill proven guilty.
@ just sayin i dont care wat u think bout me i wont lose no sleep over it. Talk all the crap u want bout me its just makin me laugh lmao & wat r u in high school seriously u couldnt do any better than dumb. Besides everyone is entitled to their OWN OPINION!!!!!! Please get a life 😉 thank u & have an awesome day 😉
man you just have to love this fair and un-biased site…LMAO…. as long as you are posting hateful comments against Booth this site will post them… but how dare anyone go against the flow and question the integrity of lewis co… Thats ok, I found another avenue to show this abusive site for what it is…. have a good day bit@#…
@sunshinegirl…. where do I begin…. lol… just like everything else in your life you are wrong again… Im not a chick at all… maybe if you had studied harder in school instead of watching your parents lick the windows of the short bus you would understand…. Im not going to verbally attack you, because frankly I doubt you would even understand… we are gonna see how this plays out when the courts have to throw out all the fabricated evidence, and the lies of all these tweekers…
He is so gorgeous
i’m sorta confused. was this person convicted for murder or not? was forensics involved in the conviction. i’ve read that some people believe that LCE is corrupt. true or not, IDK. my question is….did this person actually kill these people?
sharon your dumb !!! how would you like it if someone MURDER SOMEONE IN YOUR FAMILY ???? I just lost a brother a year and a half a go to a murder it didn’t feel to good it really sucks and to have the killer be set free REALLY ??????what kind of person are you ?? everyone knows booth did this why would you defend someone who took a child’s life ????
My brother in law wouldnt hurt a child. Furthermore if the family wasnt a bunch of drug addicts no one would have this problem. I dont believe my brother in law did this at all he is innocent as far as im concerned. I think ppl should quit focusing on my brother in law and focus on the drug addict family. Seriously ppl need to grow up. Leave my brother in law alone he aint bothering any of u. To the ppl that wanna talk shit get a life & leave my brother alone!!!! Free big sixx!!!!
Justbecauseican, I want to know are you one of those big , fat , ugly heifers , who always have a boyfriend in lock-up? You think the Tweeker enforcer is any better then the tweekers he killed ? WTF ? You ever read any of the sickening garbage you write? Railroaded? Are you serious? You think this creep is charming or some shit ? His picture alone creeps me out , always grinning this some chimp . Are you one of those pathetic women who send them money ? I’ve read about women like you.
Whine all you want little johnny but the fact remains you put a child down on his knees next to his already murdered father and then executed that child.
Free Air is something you’ll never get no matter how much bs you push through the court.
This time, the system worked and your done!
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah…
you people are just plain ignorant…. I cant believe you people can even remember to breath… The reason any of this started is because your family is a bunch of drug addicts and drug dealers… your family was a shit stain on our society by selling drugs to anybody with cash in their hands… your “family” survived by taking money from families all over your area, their food money and rent money and whatever money those tweekers could lie and steal to get… and then your “family” sues the state for millions to compensate for the lost drug money…. I bet it makes you proud to come from a long line of tweekers…. its the citizens who have no rights, they had to pay some tweekers a bunch of cash to get up on the stand and lie…. you people make me sick…
It’s a damn shame that the death penalty wasn’t brought up on his behalf. john needs to fucking hang for his ignorance. Fuck his constitutional rights, why should he get any at all for violating 3 other’s rights?
He brutally murders my family and he has right’s? WTF is really going on?He put my family through a life of mysery,a daily reminder of heartache…We wanted the death penalty,he’s lucky to be breathing at this moment…My cousin was 16,he’s dead…Where the F#@K is his right’s?!!!!!!
@Crystalsays… he may have been a great kid, but its his dads fault he was in that position to begin with. or maybe you believe its normal for a family to be dealing pounds of meth out of their homes…. maybe you guys should start a new group called “support your local meth addict”….. The legal system in lewis county is so corrupt and most of the people who comment on Booth’s articles are just stupid enough to buy into it… Of coarse salts said it was Booth, she had millions of reasons to do so… do I need to spell it out for you rocket scientists…. This case is so full of bullshit evidence and lying tweekers along with a corrupt legal system… Sure, lets let one of the neighbors of one of the so-called victims be on the jury…. These sentences need to be thrown out… you have to be totally stupid to not see this misconduct by the system and all the tweekers involved…
If lewis county did their damn job correctly and didn’t fuck up peoples constitutional rights then he could appeal until he dies n write as many letters as he wants n it wouldn’t matter he would stay right where he’s at. There is something wrong with our system when a pile like this starts getting procedures that should have been in place from day one implemented… seriously lawyer client privilege is a huge deal and if the jail is letting officers be present during confidential conversations then get ready for alot if these psychos that know how to work the system to appeal and win!! Ugh!!
Just take your punishment like a man and quit acting like a little b****
Who’s hustling who here? I read that Horton Heard a Who, but who heard booth? Was booth being ear hustled by Horton ?
Awed poor baby! He killed people and wants someone to feel sorry for him.. The boy he killed was one of the sweetest kids ever.. I feel sorry for the boy he killed.. And his family that died as well.. Asshole just saying…