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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Tough task for Duncan defense

Staff writer

John Adams and Lynn Nelson appear to have a thankless job.

The two criminal defense attorneys are representing Joseph E. Duncan III, the 42-year-old sex offender who’s facing multiple murder and kidnapping charges in the bludgeoning deaths of two adults and a child in May.

Talk of vigilantism and the death penalty seems to follow mention of Duncan, who’s accused of killing Brenda Groene, her 13-year-old son, Slade Groene, and Mark McKenzie with a hammer and then abducting and sexually molesting Brenda Groene’s two youngest children.

The case has prompted outrage around the country, spurred local residents to start locking their doors at night and has lawmakers looking at strengthening sex offender laws.

Yet, Adams and Nelson, and other legal professionals, say their job is just as critical for protecting the public’s interest as that of the prosecutor – if for different reasons.

“In each situation, our goal is to make sure that since we do live in a civilized society … that the rule of law prevails when the state decides they want to take somebody’s liberty or even their life,” Adams said. “And if that happens, it’s done through the rule of law and not through pretrial publicity or the rule of the mob.”

Adams, Kootenai County’s chief public defender, and Nelson, the chief deputy public defender, have worked on several major felony cases together, both having been with the county for almost 10 years.

Nelson is a former prosecutor for the city of Gooding, Idaho, and served as mayor in the city of Wendell, Idaho, in the early 1990s.

Both are certified to work on death penalty cases, which Duncan’s has the possibility of becoming. While Nelson is the quiet, “even-demeanored” team member, Adams tends to be passionate, said former deputy prosecutor Joel Hazel.

“He does know what he’s doing,” Hazel said of Adams, adding, “He can be a little vitriolic.”

Adams also has a reputation for keeping his clients off death row.

One of his most notorious clients in recent years was Scott Yager, who was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder in the shooting death of Idaho State Trooper Linda Huff. Even though Yager shot Huff numerous times – the last one a contact shot to her head while she lay helpless on the ground – Yager got life in prison.

“As far as defense, John is one of the best defense lawyers in the state, and Kootenai County is very lucky to have him,” said Tim Gresbeck, a private defense attorney in Moscow, Idaho, who worked with Adams to defend Gerald Barcella, an ax murderer who killed his landlord with a Pulaski. Barcella was sentenced to life, with 30 years fixed.

Gresbeck, past-president of the Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (Adams is the current president), isn’t concerned about Adams’ and Nelson’s abilities to defend Duncan.

He and others are concerned, however, that the intense publicity is going to make it harder for Duncan to get a fair trial.

“Finding jurors who haven’t already decided the case will be very hard,” Gresbeck said.

Other attorneys said they expect the defense team to ask for a change of venue, but even that might not solve the problem because of the national publicity.

Former District Judge Craig Kosonen said that, wherever the jury is impaneled, it will be important for the trial judge to explain to the jurors how to be fair and impartial, even given the abhorrent nature of the crimes.

“Hell, I think he’s guilty from what I’ve seen,” Kosonen said. “But I could give him a fair trial. I would acquit if they didn’t prove it, to protect the system.”

The role of the defense attorney, he said, is “defending your right and my right to have a fair trial should we ever be charged with a crime,” he said. “The whole thing is, don’t prejudge a case.”

The defendant and attorneys aren’t the only ones susceptible to public pressure, Gresbeck worries.

“I’m also concerned about the amount of public opinion heat that will be put on the trial judge not to make calls in favor of the defense,” he said.

Gresbeck found it particularly disturbing that journalists confronted at home the Minnesota judge who released Duncan on $15,000 bail in April. Shortly after his release, Duncan disappeared with a stolen Grand Jeep Cherokee, which was later recovered when Duncan was arrested July 2 in Coeur d’Alene.

“We should not let the atypical case, however violent, drive the bus to curtail liberty,” Gresbeck said.

Another disadvantage for the defense is that the prosecution already has the help of federal and state investigatory resources. Throughout the investigation, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department has had the assistance of the vast resources of the FBI as well as the help of the Idaho State Police.

The Kootenai County prosecutor is working in concert with the U.S. attorney for the District of Idaho to try Duncan. The U.S. attorney is expected to charge Duncan with federal kidnapping and murder charges in the abduction of Shasta and Dylan Groene and the subsequent death of Dylan, after the county completes its case.

Adams didn’t express any concerns about a shortage of resources, however.

“The federal budget is substantially larger than the county budget, but I think our board of county commissioners is very supportive of this office and will stand behind our needs,” he said.

Commissioner Katie Brodie said the Public Defender’s Office hasn’t made any special requests for additional money to defend Duncan. However, Adams and Nelson may soon have the assistance of the Federal Defender’s Office for Eastern Washington and North Idaho.

Roger Pevin, executive director of the Federal Defenders Spokane office, said he intends to ask a U.S. magistrate judge from Idaho this week to appoint the federal defenders to the case because the U.S. Attorney’s Office is already working it, even though charges have yet to be filed.

If the prosecution decides to seek the death penalty, the county public defender also will have the ability to tap the State Capital Crimes Defense Fund after the county pays the $10,000 deductible for Duncan’s defense.

Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas has not said whether his office will seek the death penalty, but he did with Yager and other murder cases.

If that does happen, Adams and Nelson will vigorously oppose the ultimate sentence.

“My views are best expressed by those 120-plus people, including several from Idaho, who have been convicted and sentenced to death and later found positively to have been not guilty of the crime,” Adams said. “It’s really hard to back off when you execute somebody.”