EVERETT — A judge has scheduled a July 6 hearing to decide whether about 325 pages of investigative records focusing on accused killer Byron Scherf should be made public.
Lawyers for Scherf on June 9 asked Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wynne to order prosecutors not to make the police reports and other documents available for inspection under public records laws.
Many of the records focus on statements Scherf reportedly made to police after he allegedly killed corrections officer Jayme Biendl while she worked her post at the Washington State Reformatory on Jan. 29.
The defense also wants to block release of court papers, corrections department records and other documents that prosecutors have assembled, some of which detail why the convicted rapist already is serving a life sentence.
The Herald sought records about the investigation into Biendl’s killing after Scherf was charged in March with aggravated first-degree murder. The Seattle Times and a television station filed similar records requests.
Scherf’s lawyers last month went all the way to state Supreme Court in an unsuccessful attempt to block release of documents he filed earlier, then apparently abandoned, complaining that his attorneys were engaged in a “renegade action” to spare him from a death sentence.
At a brief hearing Friday, prosecutors objected to the method Scherf’s attorneys used to stop release of documents prosecutors already determined must be released under public records law. Wynne said he signed the order believing that prosecutors were aware of the defense action. They weren’t. Prosecutors also said the original defense order failed to clarify which records should be withheld, and why.
Scherf attorney Karen Halverson on Thursday filed a detailed list of documents she and co-counsel Jon Scott contend should not be released by prosecutors. Concerns focus on about 325 pages of records out of more than 1,900 that were scheduled for release, Halverson noted.
“The media attention focused on this case has been substantial,” she said in court papers. “It is the court’s duty to ensure Mr. Scherf receives a fair trial. This becomes more and more difficult if evidence that may not be admitted at trial is already out in the public domain. You cannot un-ring the bell.”
A number of the records Scherf’s attorneys want withheld now have for decades been available for public inspection in courthouses where Scherf was prosecuted for earlier attacks on women. The records also are in the files of various state agencies, including the state Department of Corrections and the Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board.
Since Biendl’s death, The Herald has used public records laws to obtain hundreds of pages of corrections department records for Scherf. Those documents indicate state officials believed he presented a particular risk to women prison workers because of his cunning and “predatory” history. Other records included multiple letters Scherf wrote state officials, demanding sex offender treatment and warning he could harm others if he didn’t get his way.
Scherf was deemed ineligible for sex offender treatment because of his life sentence as a persistent offender. Prosecutors now are seeking his execution.
Scott North: 425-339-3431; north@heraldnet.com.
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