Clerk’s error leads to new trial

It didn’t take long last month for a Spokane County Superior Court jury to find David Carlos Camacho guilty of stealing Kyle McDermott’s Jeep Cherokee last summer.

But the verdict was dismissed because of a clerk’s error: providing a list of Camacho’s 20 felony convictions to the jury during its deliberations.

The jurors weren’t supposed to see the 33-year-old’s rap sheet until after they’d reached a verdict. Under state law, if the jury found Camacho guilty, it could then consider a recommendation for an exceptional sentence because of his record as a career criminal.

Such a mistake is rare in Spokane, said David L. Stevens, a deputy prosecutor who specializes in repeat offenders in Spokane County.

The clerk in Spokane Superior Court Judge Gregory D. Sypolt’s court “felt terrible,” Stevens said, adding, “The judge also felt terrible, and apologized to everyone.

Shortly after the mistake was discovered on Jan. 8, Spokane County Assistant Public Defender Derek J. Reid requested a new trial for his client.

Sypolt granted the request Jan. 24.

Along with the jury instructions, the jurors were “inadvertently” provided with the exceptional sentence instructions, Sypolt said in his order.

“Thus, the jurors were privy to the defendant’s offender score and significant criminal history as part of their deliberation for purposes of guilt or innocence,” his order says.

Retrying Camacho will cost taxpayers several thousand dollars, Stevens estimated. “It’s tough on everybody, including the defendant,” he added.

Reid, the public defender, didn’t return a call seeking comment.

According to a Washington State Patrol database, Camacho’s felony convictions include child molestation, possession of stolen property, taking several motor vehicles without permission, theft, “willful failing to return from work release,” escape and domestic violence. The convictions date from 1988 to 2004.

Camacho is designated a career criminal in the county’s Repeat Offender Program.

The Spokane County prosecutor’s office is making a major effort to combat vehicle theft, seeking exceptional sentences where career criminals are involved, Stevens said.

Camacho, who remains in custody at the Spokane County Jail, will be retried on the motor vehicle theft charge March 3.