SEATTLE — Lawyers for a man charged with killing a Des Moines police officer say he shouldn’t face the death penalty because the infamous Green River Killer didn’t.
And some convicts already condemned to the state’s death row are asking the state Supreme Court to reconsider their sentences, calling the state’s death-penalty system hopelessly flawed.
On Friday, attorneys for Charles Champion urged a King County Superior Court judge to dismiss the possibility that the 21-year-old man could be executed, contending that Washington’s way of deciding who lives or dies is arbitrary.
"It’s just a crapshoot," said attorney Jackie Walsh. "Nobody can predict with any degree of certainty who will face death in this state and who will not."
Suspected carjacker killed while running from police: A man suspected in a carjacking was struck and killed on I-5 south of Seattle as he was being chased by police Saturday morning. The King County medical examiner’s office identified the man as Sophaly Plenh, 20, of Seattle. Harry Bailey, Seattle’s assistant police chief, told KING-5 TV that the man ran from officers after they rammed the car he was driving around 7:15 a.m. At one point, Bailey said, the man jumped off the overpass at Albro Place onto the highway below, where he was struck by several passing vehicles.
EMP lays off another 129 workers: Paul Allen’s Experience Music Project is laying off 129 employees in the third batch of layoffs since the interactive rock ‘n’ roll museum opened three and a half years ago. Museum spokeswoman Paige Prill said the staff cuts are part of the EMP’s effort to run efficiently while not compromising exhibits and educational programs. The latest round of layoffs hit mostly administrative staff but included some restaurant and operations workers, Prill said. The cuts leave the museum with a staff of 214. Last February, 46 EMP workers were let go; 124 were laid off in 2002.
Woman in her 80s killed by falling tree: A woman was killed when part of a tree being cut down by a crew fell and crushed her in her trailer Saturday at a mobile-home park southwest of Olympia. She was identified as Betty Sherrill, 82 or 83 years old, the Thurston County coroner’s office said. A crew at Salmon Shores Park was attempting to cut down a large tree but lost control of a section, which fell on the fifth-wheel trailer and crushed the woman inside, said Lt. Joe Vukich of the Thurston County sheriff’s office. From Herald news services
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