SEATTLE (AP) — The King County prosecutor says he’ll seek an emergency Washington state appeals court review of a Superior Court judge’s ruling that prosecutors can’t seek the death penalty against two people accused of killing six members of a Carnation family in 2007.
The Seattle Times reports that Prosecutor Dan Satterberg characterized the judge’s Thursday ruling as “simply wrong.”
Judge Jeffrey Ramsdell ruled that the prosecutor’s office made a mistake in considering the strength of its evidence in deciding to seek the death penalty against Michele Anderson and Joseph McEnroe.
The judge said the strength of the evidence can’t be applied to a death penalty decision because that violates equal protection provisions. The judge said the strength of the evidence can vary from case to case, leading to different results.
Anderson and McEnroe are charged with aggravated murder, accused of killing Anderson’s parents, her brother and sister-in-law and her young niece and nephew.
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