The attorney for a man potentially facing the death penalty in a Woodland triple homicide said there may be a conflict of interest with the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Brent Luyster’s capital defense attorney, Bob Yoseph, on Wednesday raised several issues during his client’s scheduled arraignment in Clark County Superior Court. He requested, for a second time, that his client be formally charged at a later date.
Luyster, 35, faces three counts of aggravated first-degree murder with the use of a firearm, attempted first-degree murder with the use of a firearm, and first- and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. A charge of aggravated murder carries the possibility of the death penalty.
Luyster, a known white supremacist, is accused of fatally shooting Joseph Mark Lamar, 38, Zachary David Thompson, 36, and Janell Renee Knight, 43, on July 15 at a rural home southeast of Woodland. A fourth victim, Breanne L.A. Leigh, 31, was critically wounded. Luyster was apprehended the following day along Ocean Beach Highway, west of Longview.
The defense needs to conduct further investigation, Yoseph said, before presenting its case against the death penalty to the prosecutor’s office. Additionally, he voiced concerns over a deputy prosecutor who represented Luyster several years ago, before joining the prosecutor’s office.
Yoseph said he learned that the deputy prosecutor discussed the old case with others in the prosecutor’s office. He said he worries that the information may have tainted potential members who sit on the prosecution’s death penalty committee, an internal group that will advise Prosecutor Tony Golik on whether he should pursue a death penalty. Yoseph also expressed concerns about other employees in the prosecutor’s office who were potentially involved in Luyster’s older cases.
He asked for time to flesh out some of the issues to see if the prosecutor’s office can move forward on the case.
Judge Robert Lewis set over Luyster’s arraignment until 9 a.m. Nov. 8. The prosecution has 30 days from the time of arraignment to decide whether to seek the death penalty.
Deputy Prosecutor James Smith did not object. He said in an interview afterward that the prosecutor’s office notified the court and defense about employees who may have been involved in Luyster’s previous cases.
“This is a concern we are taking seriously. We are taking the steps to see that this issue is fully dealt with to the extent that there is a problem,” Smith said.
In 2014, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee announced that he would suspend all executions in the state while he’s in office, but that doesn’t prevent prosecutors from pursuing capital punishment.
