Killer’s conviction overturned

Associated Press

TACOMA — A state appeals court has overturned the murder and assault convictions of Brian Eggleston, who killed a sheriff’s deputy during a 1995 drug raid on his home here.

Pierce County prosecutors say they will appeal Friday’s finding to the state Supreme Court — and try Eggleston again if they get no relief there.

Eggleston, sentenced to nearly 49 years in prison, contends he shot the deputy, John Bananola, in self-defense.

His convictions stemmed from two trials.

The jury in the first trial, in 1997, was unable to reach a verdict on the first-degree murder charge filed in Bananola’s death, but convicted Eggleston of first-degree assault and four drug counts.

Eggleston was convicted of second-degree murder at his second trial, in 1998.

The state Court of Appeals Division 2 ruled Friday that neither trial was fair, and ordered the case returned to Pierce County.

The appellate court cited errors including unfair jury instruction; misconduct by a juror in the second trial who told other panel members about Eggleston’s convictions in the first trial; and illegal seizure of evidence during the homicide investigation.

Pierce County prosecutor Gerry Horne said he will ask the state Supreme Court to overturn the appeals court ruling. If necessary, he said, his office will try Eggleston a third time.

"We expect when it goes to a jury again, again a jury will find him guilty," Horne said.

Monte Hester, Eggleston’s trial attorney, was pleased by the decision.

"We didn’t have a level playing field at either of the trials," he said.

Attorneys Eric Nielsen and Eric Broman, who are handling Eggleston’s appeal, called the decision "a great day for justice."

Eggleston’s mother, Linda Eggleston, wept at the news.

"Thank God," she said.

Glori Manning, the deputy’s former wife, also cried, worried about the effects on Bananola’s daughter.

Sheriff’s deputies raided the Eggleston home in Tacoma because they believed he was selling marijuana.

Relying on information from an informant and carrying a search warrant, seven deputies — wearing dark clothes that identified them as law enforcement officers — entered the house about 8 a.m. on Oct. 16, 1995.

Eggleston, sleeping after a late shift as a bartender, says he heard men breaking into his home and began firing at what he believed to be intruders.

In the exchange of gunfire that followed, Eggleston and Bananola were wounded — the deputy fatally.

At both trials, the appeals court says, prosecutors were allowed to give a jury instruction on use of force by law enforcement officers in the line of duty.

The instruction essentially eliminated Eggleston’s ability to claim self-defense.

After the shootout, the appellate court decision says, deputies should have gotten a second warrant to investigate Bananola’s homicide.

"The removal of portions of a television, two walls and the ceiling constituted a search independent of the initial intrusion and exceeded the officers’ lawful rights of access," the judges wrote.

During the second trial, Superior Court Judge Leonard Kruse replaced the juror aware of Eggleston’s conviction in the first trial — but allowed the jury to continue deliberating.

He should have determined whether the juror’s comments had tainted other members of the jury panel, the appeals court said.

Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said the department was disappointed by the decision.

"We support Gerry Horne in whatever actions he decides to take and will fully participate in a new trial," Troyer said.