Original judge in Loukaitis case to preside over re-sentencing
Barry Loukaitis
MOSES LAKE — The Kittitas County judge who sentenced Barry Loukaitis 20 years ago will be coming out of retirement to preside over Loukaitis' re-sentencing.
Loukaitis, who signed a waiver and did not appear during a hearing in Grant County Superior Court Friday, is set to be re-sentenced because of 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The SCOTUS’ Miller versus Alabama decision in 2012 stated it was unconstitutional for juvenile offenders to receive a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
The SCOTUS ruled the Eighth Amendment, which relates to the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments, “forbids” a sentence that dictates life in prison without the possibility of parole for juvenile homicide offenders, according to the Supreme Court’s website. In the Miller decision, the SCOTUS stated the Eighth Amendment guarantees a person's right to not be subjected to “excessive sanctions.”
As a result of the Miller decision, the Washington legislature passed the “Miller fix,” which stipulates that juveniles who were younger than 16 when they were previously convicted of first-degree murder should have that sentenced reduced to 25 years, according to a previous Columbia Basin Herald report.
Loukaitis was 14 on Feb. 2, 1996 when he entered his algebra classroom at Frontier Middle School and killed two of his classmates and his algebra teacher. Washington’s Miller fix affects the Loukaitis case as he was tried as an adult for the crimes and was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole, plus more than 200 additional years in prison.
On Friday Grant County Superior Court Judge David Estudillo heard from Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Kelly Fitzgerald, who is prosecuting the case because of a conflict of interest in the Grant County Prosecutor’s Office, and defense attorney Brett Hill.
Fitzgerald said a clause in the legislature's Miller fix gives instruction on how the re-sentencing should occur. She noted the statute states the case should be returned to the sentencing court, or the sentencing court’s successor. Both Fitzgerald and Hill agreed the Loukaitis sentencing should be presided over by either retired Kittitas County Superior Court Judge Michael Cooper, who sentenced Loukaitis in Grant County Superior Court 20 years ago, or his successor.
Fitzgerald said Cooper, who retired from the bench in 2011, has already agreed to preside over Loukaitis’ re-sentencing.
“It would be a benefit to judicial economy and efficiency to have Judge Cooper be back in the position to make a decision,” Fitzgerald said.
Estudillo granted the motion to have Cooper hear the case, citing laws which he said gives Cooper the right to preside over the re-sentencing.
“I think it is reasonable that Judge Cooper, given his background with this case, probably is in the grand scheme of things the right person to hear it because he knows probably more of the background than anybody else here,” Estudillo said. “I certainly can review the file, but I will not have had all that knowledge that he took in at the time when the trial actually occurred.”
There was no date set for Loukaitis’ re-sentencing and Fitzgerald said the case will be remaining in Grant County.
Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.
Loukaitis, who signed a waiver and did not appear during a hearing in Grant County Superior Court Friday, is set to be re-sentenced because of 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The SCOTUS’ Miller versus Alabama decision in 2012 stated it was unconstitutional for juvenile offenders to receive a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
The SCOTUS ruled the Eighth Amendment, which relates to the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments, “forbids” a sentence that dictates life in prison without the possibility of parole for juvenile homicide offenders, according to the Supreme Court’s website. In the Miller decision, the SCOTUS stated the Eighth Amendment guarantees a person's right to not be subjected to “excessive sanctions.”
As a result of the Miller decision, the Washington legislature passed the “Miller fix,” which stipulates that juveniles who were younger than 16 when they were previously convicted of first-degree murder should have that sentenced reduced to 25 years, according to a previous Columbia Basin Herald report.
Loukaitis was 14 on Feb. 2, 1996 when he entered his algebra classroom at Frontier Middle School and killed two of his classmates and his algebra teacher. Washington’s Miller fix affects the Loukaitis case as he was tried as an adult for the crimes and was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole, plus more than 200 additional years in prison.
On Friday Grant County Superior Court Judge David Estudillo heard from Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Kelly Fitzgerald, who is prosecuting the case because of a conflict of interest in the Grant County Prosecutor’s Office, and defense attorney Brett Hill.
Fitzgerald said a clause in the legislature's Miller fix gives instruction on how the re-sentencing should occur. She noted the statute states the case should be returned to the sentencing court, or the sentencing court’s successor. Both Fitzgerald and Hill agreed the Loukaitis sentencing should be presided over by either retired Kittitas County Superior Court Judge Michael Cooper, who sentenced Loukaitis in Grant County Superior Court 20 years ago, or his successor.
Fitzgerald said Cooper, who retired from the bench in 2011, has already agreed to preside over Loukaitis’ re-sentencing.
“It would be a benefit to judicial economy and efficiency to have Judge Cooper be back in the position to make a decision,” Fitzgerald said.
Estudillo granted the motion to have Cooper hear the case, citing laws which he said gives Cooper the right to preside over the re-sentencing.
“I think it is reasonable that Judge Cooper, given his background with this case, probably is in the grand scheme of things the right person to hear it because he knows probably more of the background than anybody else here,” Estudillo said. “I certainly can review the file, but I will not have had all that knowledge that he took in at the time when the trial actually occurred.”
There was no date set for Loukaitis’ re-sentencing and Fitzgerald said the case will be remaining in Grant County.
Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.