King County seeks state help to cover murder trial costs

King County is asking the Legislature for $10.49 million to help cover the 2003 costs of prosecuting Green River serial killer Gary Leon Ridgway and 28 other aggravated first-degree murder cases.

Ridgway's was by far the most expensive of the prosecutions, accounting for $6.8 million of the reimbursement sought by the county. He pleaded guilty in November to killing 48 women over a 20-year period and was sentenced to 48 terms of life in prison.

King is one of four counties applying for reimbursement under the state's Extraordinary Criminal Justice Costs Act, which allows counties to seek reimbursement from the Legislature for investigation, prosecution and defense costs in aggravated murder cases.

Since they hold the potential for the death penalty, aggravated murder cases typically are the most expensive type of criminal prosecutions due to their complexity and the high standards for defending them.

Beth Goldberg, King County's criminal justice budget supervisor, said the county has spent nearly $12.6 million on the Ridgway case since his arrest Nov. 30, 2001, and many millions more on the investigation prior to his arrest.

How much money the cash-strapped Legislature will appropriate is uncertain. Last year King County filed a claim for $8.4 million for aggravated murder cases, but the Legislature gave it only $766,000 -- still the largest reimbursement the state has granted for murder cases.

Goldberg said aggravated murder cases cost the county $11.1 million last year, but federal grants covered part of the cost of DNA testing and detectives' salaries.

The Ridgway case accounts for more than half the $11.84 million that Joanne Moore, director of the state Office of Public Defense, has requested from legislative budget leaders for reimbursements to King, Snohomish ($882,494), Kitsap ($440,243) and Spokane ($34,477) counties.

In a letter to lawmakers, Moore said the securing of a guilty plea from Ridgway "saved millions (of dollars) more in county funds that would have been spent on trial costs, and, if Ridgway had been convicted, considerable sums of state funds for appellate costs.

"Investigation and DNA costs for the Ridgway case were high due to the number of victims investigated, the age of some of the homicides and the number of defense attorneys, prosecutors and experts involved in this massive case," Moore wrote.

In 2003 alone, the Ridgway case cost King County $1.09 million for prosecutors' salaries and expenses; $3.2 million for sheriff's office investigation costs; $52,000 for expert witnesses; $1.3 million for defense attorneys' fees and investigation expenses, $1.23 million for defense expert-witness costs and $48,000 for jail and court costs.

The second-most expensive case in 2003 was that of Sebastian Burns and Atif Rafay, who are on trial on charges of bludgeoning Rafay's parents and 20-year-old sister in the family's Bellevue home in 1994. The two cases' combined cost to King County last year was $1.1 million, mostly for court-appointed defense attorneys.

The trial of Burns and Rafay began in November and is expected to last through April. If convicted, the two would go to prison for life.

Of the 29 murder cases for which the county is seeking reimbursement from the state, 17 are active cases. Goldberg said the other 12 are post-trial cases for which the county is seeking coverage of the costs of appeals or documentation wrap-ups.

Two identical bills currently before the Legislature, and endorsed by King County officials, would allow counties to petition for reimbursement for extraordinary criminal justice costs in any homicide cases, not just those involving aggravated murder.

P-I reporter Neil Modie can be reached at 206-448-8321 or neilmodie@seattlepi.com

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