Appeals court overturns third-strike conviction

MONROE, Wash. – The state Court of Appeals has overturned the conviction of a former state prison inmate who attacked a corrections officer in 2012.

Jimi Hamilton was sentenced to life behind bars without the possibility of release after a Snohomish County Superior Court jury convicted him in 2014 of second-degree assault at the corrections facility in Monroe. It was his third-strike under the state’s persistent offender law.

The state appellate court concluded that the trial judge was wrong to allow a deputy prosecutor to question a defense witness the way she did.

Hamilton’s lawyer, Snohomish County public defender Jennifer Rancourt, says she’s pleased with the court’s ruling and that they protected the right to a fair trial.

The Herald reports (https://goo.gl/s4M179 ) that prosecutors plan to ask the state Supreme Court to review the appellate court’s decision.