Scherf’s lawyers fail to make prosecutor’s deadline for info

Published 12:01 am Tuesday, March 8, 2011

EVERETT — As of Monday afternoon Byron Scherf’s attorneys hadn’t sent Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Roe information for him to consider before deciding whether to seek the death penalty.

Roe had given the defense until Monday to provide him with any information that may argue for leniency.

Scherf, a convicted rapist, already is serving a life sentence without possibility of release. He now is charged with aggravated murder for the Jan. 29 strangulation death of corrections Officer Jayme Biendl at the Washington State Reformatory in Monroe.

“I have not received anything,” Roe said Monday afternoon. “I’ll listen to anything they want to tell me.”

He already has reviewed a large amount of material that is available because of Scherf’s lengthy history with the courts, Roe said.

Scherf’s lawyers said last month that they wouldn’t be able to meet Roe’s deadline. They sought an injunction to bar Roe from making a swift decision about the death penalty. They asked a judge to give them more time to gather information.

No hearings have been scheduled for the injunction. Lawyers may be waiting for the criminal case to move into Superior Court before filing any motions.

Scherf’s lead attorney, Karen Halverson, couldn’t be reached for comment on Monday.

Regardless of what Roe decides, it will be up to a jury to decide if there are reasons to spare Scherf’s life.

Roe plans to meet with senior deputy prosecutors Wednesday to discuss the case. He also expects to talk with Biendl’s family after the meeting, he said.

Prosecutors have until Friday to refile the charge in Superior Court. Scherf could be arraigned as early as March 15. Under the law, Roe has 30 days after the arraignment to file an intent to seek the death penalty.

Lawyers can ask the court for more time to compile and review any mitigation information, such as mental health history.

In Scherf’s case, much of his life has been documented through multiple trials and his three decades in prison. The state Department of Corrections has kept a detailed log of Scherf’s behavior behind bars, including an in-depth risk assessment in 2001.

That evaluation probed Scherf’s violent criminal history and mental health. A corrections official concluded that Scherf is dangerous and should always be considered a risk to female staff.

“Staff are concerned that his next victim could be a staff person,” one corrections worker wrote June 1, 2001.

Scherf has been serving a life sentence under the state’s “three-strikes law” since 1997. He has convictions for rape and second-degree assault. All his victims have been women.

Scherf is accused of attacking Biendl in the prison’s chapel, where the officer worked alone. Evidence indicates that Biendl fought off the inmate until he was able to get a weapon — an amplifier cord left on the chapel’s stage.

Scherf reportedly admitted that he strangled Biendl after he became angry with her over a conversation from earlier in the night. He allegedly told detectives that he deserves the death penalty for the killing.

Biendl’s family told Roe that they wish to see Scherf put to death.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.