Shooting defendant released on bond

A Spokane man will be released to his mother while awaiting a new trial on charges that he shot his girlfriend to death in May 1997.

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Robert Austin on Thursday removed a roadblock to another judge’s ruling last month that Joseph Duane Brooks may be released on $25,000 bond if he also submits to electronic monitoring.

Brooks, 25, is to be released to his mother, Leanna Conn. She lives in Albany, Ore., but has agreed to stay in a Spokane apartment while her son awaits trial.

Judge Kathleen O’Connor approved the arrangement Feb. 24, but called for electronic monitoring by Spokane County’s Geiger Corrections Center.

The plan was frustrated by Geiger’s policy of not providing monitoring for defendants who have posted bail.

Austin granted Assistant Public Defender Kari Reardon’s motion to allow the private Second Watch monitoring service to monitor Brooks.

Deputy Prosecutor Mark Lindsey said his office would have preferred Brooks’ bail to remain at its original $250,000.

Austin said he didn’t intend to second-guess O’Connor’s ruling.

“I’m only trying to effectuate how that happens,” Austin said.

Brooks pleaded guilty to second-degree felony murder in February 1998 and was sentenced to 112/3 years in prison.

His conviction was recently overturned because the Washington Supreme Court ruled the second-degree felony murder law was defective when Brooks was convicted.

The law says it is murder if a victim dies in the course of another felony. However, the Supreme Court said assault – the basis for convicting Brooks and scores of others – wasn’t on the list of felonies that could lead to second-degree murder.

Brooks admitted shooting Dianna Meyer in the head with a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun while she sat in his living room in Chattaroy. He claimed he was joking with the victim, and thought he had activated the weapon’s safety lock.

A witness said Brooks had stated he wanted to scare Meyer because she told his friends he was a drug user.