‘Ill-intentioned’ misconduct by deputy prosecutor means new trial for accused killer
A man sentenced for a gruesome attack that killed his mother at their Tacoma home needs a new trial because of a Pierce County deputy prosecutor’s misconduct, an appellate court said this week.
Sebastian Levy-Aldrete argued on appeal that he didn’t get a fair trial due to prosecutorial misconduct, and a three-judge panel of Division II of the Washington State Court of Appeals agreed Tuesday.
“The cumulative effect of these repeated instances of misconduct were substantially likely to have affected the verdict,” Judge Lisa Sutton wrote for the panel. “Thus, we hold that Levy-Aldrete has met his burden to show reversible prosecutorial misconduct.”
The opinion, signed by Judges Anne Cruser and Bradley Maxa, reversed Levy-Aldrete’s conviction for second-degree murder.
A spokesperson said the Prosecutor’s Office is weighing whether to seek review from the state Supreme Court.
Jurors found Levy-Aldrete guilty in 2018 for the death of 77-year-old Maria Aldrete-Levy, and he was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison.
“Sebastian maintains his innocence,” Attorney Richard Lechich with the Washington Appellate Project, who represented Lechich in his appeal, said Wednesday. “He’s looking forward to clearing his name and finding his mother’s killer.”
Levy-Aldrete argued at trial that an intruder attacked his mother in the face with a broken whiskey bottle and strangled her Oct. 16, 2017 at the apartment they shared in the Stadium District, and that he struggled with the killer and chased him.
Prosecutors argued the evidence didn’t support that, and that Levy-Aldrete had spent money he and his mother planned to use to buy a house together, which they were supposed to close on the day she died.
Levy-Aldrete argued there was enough money for the closing. He told the judge at sentencing that his mother had been his roommate for seven years and his best friend, and that she helped care for his young sons — who were asleep in the apartment when she was attacked.
“I don’t know who did this,” he said. “I only know that I didn’t.”
Deputy Prosecutor Jesse Williams told jurors during closing arguments, “There was no boogyman. ... For reasons maybe only he knows, the defendant murdered his mom.”
The appellate court found the way the prosecutor used a puzzle analogy in his closing argument was improper.
“The puzzle analogy used repeatedly by the prosecutor wrongfully implied that the jury was responsible for solving the incomplete jigsaw puzzle,” Sutton wrote. “The prosecutor trivialized and misstated the State’s burden of proof by using an inaccurate and confusing analogy. The prosecutor came dangerously close to quantifying the beyond a reasonable doubt standard of proof even though he did not explicitly place a percentage on how many ‘puzzle pieces’ were necessary for proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The prosecutor also made a statement to jurors that “it is time that your verdict reflects the truth,” according to court records.
On appeal Levy-Aldrete argued that misstated the state’s burden of proof, and the appellate court agreed it was improper.
“Although Levy-Aldrete did not object to this statement, it was flagrant and ill-intentioned,” Sutton wrote. “There are numerous published cases holding that speak the truth arguments are improper, but the prosecutor disregarded that clear law.”
Additionally, the appellate court found that a reference the prosecutor made to television characters was outside the evidence.
“The prosecutor argued to the jury that television story lines in which a perpetrator inflicts wounds on himself in order to trick the police demonstrated that Levy-Aldrete’s wounds were likely also self-inflicted,” Sutton wrote. “The State presented no evidence to support its argument that Levy-Aldrete, taking a cue from television story lines, inflicted his wounds on himself.”
Though Levy-Aldrete didn’t object, Sutton wrote, “because it is well-settled that prosecutors are prohibited from arguing matters outside the evidence, this is flagrant and ill-intentioned.”
Asked about the ruling, Lechich noted prior cases of prosecutorial misconduct in Pierce County.
“... the previous prosecutor and their office had this reputation,” he said.
