Judge denies motion in parental shooting case

EPHRATA - Grant County prosecutors tried to obtain a defense attorney's documents in the case regarding a 14-year-old Moses Lake boy accused of shooting his parents in March.

The motion was denied Monday, and would have allowed prosecutors access to a defense attorney's documents provided to expert witnesses.

The boy is charged with two counts of attempted murder for allegedly shooting his parents while they slept.

Defense attorney Lyliane Couture objected to the motion. She said discovery is due no later than the omnibus hearing and the boy hasn't even been arraigned yet.

Couture also stated she had little evidence for the prosecution to examine.

"The only evidence I have is police reports, which were provided by the state," she said. "There's nothing that would be provided to experts that would even be required to be provided to the state."

Deputy prosecutor Steven Johnson argued that the only way for the state to inspect an expert's opinion would be to know what the expert was looking at.

Judge Pro-tem Harry Ries felt the motion to compel discovery was premature and denied the prosecution's motion.

"I'm not convinced that documents provided to defense expert witnesses would constitute evidence," he said. "Without any more I don't see how the court can grant the motion at this time."

A status hearing on the case is scheduled for July 8.

The boy allegedly took a .22 caliber pistol out of a locked gun case, loaded it and waited around 90 minutes before he decided to shoot his parents. He later told police his parents grounded him from all electronic devices, including video games.

The boy's parents, Jon and Elizabeth Brooks, survived the shooting and were transported to an out-of-area hospital.

Since his arrest, the court has allowed the boy's parents to visit him at the juvenile detention center, but they cannot discuss the case and must be supervised.