John Allen Booth Jr. looks to see who is in the Chehalis courtroom audience Tuesday as proceedings get underway.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Lawyers for John Allen Booth Jr. requested an extension yesterday of the time for both sides to argue why the death penalty should or should not be sought for the man accused in the August triple slaying inside a Salkum-Onalaska area home.
Booth, 31, was brought up from the jail for the hearing wearing his usual red and white striped jail garb, belly chains and shackles on his ankles.
The only spectator in the Chehalis courtroom besides the team of sheriff’s detectives, news media and an attorney was the Onalaska native’s fiancee.
Booth has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and other charges in connection with the shootings on Aug. 21. A trial date has not yet been set.
Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher told the judge he opposes the length of time Booth’s lawyers are seeking for the filing of the notice for special proceedings. Prosecutors have 30 days from the time of arraignment to to file such notification if they decide to seek the death penalty.
Roger A. Hunko, one of a small number of lawyers in Washington state qualified to work potential death penalty cases, told Judge Richard Brosey it takes time, in his experience, to put together a meaningful “mitigation package”.
Hunko said this is his 18th aggravated murder case. The Port Orchard attorney was brought on to assist defense attorney James Dixon after the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office upgraded the charges making it a potential capital case.
Brosey agreed to the waiver of the 30-day time period.
“The charge here is aggravated murder, with the potential of the death penalty,” Brosey said. “It doesn’t get more serious than that. I think under the circumstances, a date of the first of April is not unreasonable.”
A mitigation package is essentially a life history; a collection of information looking to show why the death penalty should not be sought, according to Hunko.
If convicted of the higher charges, the only two possible penalties for a defendant are life in prison without the possibility of release or death.
A second suspect in the slayings is also being held in the Lewis County Jail. A trial date has not yet been set for that man, 28-year-old Ryan McCarthy.
McCarthy is charged with murder, but not aggravated murder.
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Read some of the previous stories on the case:
• “Triple homicide case moves slowly as lawyers wait for evidence from state crime lab” from Friday Oct. 8, 2010 here
• “Death penalty is on the table” in Salkum slayings from Thursday Sept. 30, 2010 here
• “West Sr. pointed shotgun telling pair of ex-cons to leave his house, triggering triple homicide, unsealed court documents allege” from Saturday Sept. 4, 2010 here
• “Unsealed document: More details on Salkum slayings” from Monday Sept. 6, 2010 here
John Allen Booth Jr., right, listens with James Dixon, one of his two lawyers, in Lewis County Superior Court on Tuesday.
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