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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Stevens County prosecutor wants guilty verdicts reviewed

The Stevens County prosecuting attorney is taking the unusual step of asking a court to review five guilty verdicts amid concerns that defendants’ constitutional rights may have been violated.

Tim Rasmussen submitted a request Monday for the District Court to take another look at five guilty jury verdicts entered between August 2013 and last month. During that time, District Court Administrator Nadine Borders ceased sending prosecuting and defense attorneys copies of responses to generic questionnaires mailed to those summoned for jury duty, asking for information including job history, previous interaction with the courts and education level, according to court documents.

Rasmussen said this may have violated the five defendants’ rights to an open trial under Washington state law.

Rasmussen cited several cases, decided in Washington trial and appellate courts, that upheld the sharing of juror questionnaires with counsel prior to trial. He also called the sharing of juror questionnaires “accepted practice” in Washington courts.

Nine jury trials were held in the Stevens County District Court, presided over by Judge Gina Tveit, during the period juror questionnaires were not released to attorneys. Four of those ended in not guilty verdicts.

Rasmussen said he was not copied on an email sent in August 2013 in which Borders informed deputy prosecutors the court would be withholding juror questionnaires. The District Court reversed the practice last month, according to court documents.

In the five cases Rasmussen asked the court to review, four defendants were represented by legal counsel and a fifth acted as their own counsel. One of those defendants was Scott M. Nitschke, who was found guilty of unlawful hunting of big game on Spokane Tribe property in October.

Nitschke received a 15-day jail sentence and a fine of $5,000 after a jury found him guilty, according to court records.

Neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys in the nine cases raised questions or objections about their lack of access to the juror questionnaires at trial, Rasmussen wrote.

The District Court in Stevens County handles misdemeanor cases, while Superior Court judges hear felony charges.

Tveit declined to comment on the case Thursday, citing a legal requirement not to discuss open cases. Borders did not return a request for comment.