黑料福利社

Randy Shea Gardner鈥檚 conviction for a 2018 murder in Gleed was overturned because Yakima County sheriff鈥檚 detectives wouldn鈥檛 let him talk to a lawyer.

In a Tuesday ruling, a three-judge panel of the Spokane-based Division III Court of Appeals reversed Gardner's conviction and sent the case back for a new trial.

After Gardner was handcuffed, placed in the back of a patrol vehicle and read his rights, Gardner told a detective that if he was a suspect in Julian Wabinga's killing, he wanted an attorney. The appeals court found it was an unequivocable request that detectives should have honored immediately.

鈥淭his was a conditional request 鈥� if this, then that. There was nothing unambiguous about this request,鈥� Acting Chief Judge Tracy A. Staab wrote in the opinion. 鈥淕ardner was unsure whether he was a suspect, but if he was, he wanted an attorney. Law enforcement knew the condition had been met because they knew Gardner was a suspect.鈥�

And since much of the case hinged on the evidence Gardner provided in the interview, Staab and the other members of the panel 鈥� Chief Judge Robert Lawrence-Berrey and Judge John O. Cooney 鈥� said Yakima County Superior Court Judge Kevin Naught鈥檚 ruling to allow it was not a harmless error.

Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Joe Brusic said he was disappointed with the ruling but said his office plans to review the evidence again with the intention of taking Gardner back to trial.

鈥淥ur office worked very hard on this case, and we are proud of the effort we made to get to this point,鈥� Brusic said. 鈥淚 am very pleased our office collectively got the underlying conviction and we will make the effort to prove the case once again.鈥�

Gardner, 51, was sentenced in 2022 to 40 陆 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree assault, felony harassment and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in the death of Julian Wabinga.

He is being held in the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.

Gardner was accused of shooting Wabinga, 45, in summer 2017 at the home of Gardner鈥檚 then-mother-in-law and burying his body inside a barn.

While in the Yakima County jail on burglary charges, Gardner told sheriff鈥檚 detectives that someone had shot Wabinga and buried his body in the barn, but a search with cadaver dogs at the time failed to find Wabinga鈥檚 remains.

In June 2018, a day after he was released from jail, Gardner again called the sheriff鈥檚 office to report the body, and proceeded to dig up Wabinga鈥檚 remains as deputies watched. He maintained that Douglas Irwin, who also lived on the property, had shot Wabinga and threatened to kill him if he said anything.

Irwin testified in court that it was Gardner who shot Wabinga over an impounded truck, and forced Irwin to help him bury Wabinga, threatening to kill his family if he said anything.

Detectives brought Gardner back in for a second round of questioning on June 13, 2018. Gardner said he was told that if he didn鈥檛 come in, he would be arrested, the ruling said.

Initially placed in handcuffs when he was picked up at his parents鈥� home, Gardner said he told Detective Sergio Reyna that if he was under arrest as a suspect, he wanted an attorney. Reyna ordered the handcuffs removed, and Gardner was taken to the sheriff鈥檚 office where Reyna and Detective Dan Cypher questioned him, according to the ruling.

During the interrogation, Gardner again renewed his request for an attorney if he were a suspect, and he was told he was not a suspect. After the interview ended, Gardner was placed under arrest.

While Naught found that Gardner was in custody and would likely have thought he was not free to leave, he found that Gardner鈥檚 request for an attorney was not clearly stated and that he knowingly waived his right to have an attorney present.

But Staab found that Gardner鈥檚 request for an attorney was valid and conditional. If he were being regarded as a suspect, which Staab said Gardner was, he wanted to have an attorney present. The detectives, she ruled, should have stopped the interview at that point.

Nor was it a harmless mistake, Staab found.

With the only physical evidence showing that Wabinga was shot with a gun belonging to Gardner鈥檚 then-wife and a latex glove found with Wabinga having Irwin鈥檚 DNA, the state relied on interviews with Gardner, including the June 13 interview, and Gardner鈥檚 jail letters to build the case against him.

Staab observed that Irwin, Gardner鈥檚 ex-wife and a cellmate from the Yakima County jail had testified, but they each had credibility issues, such as the cellmate avoiding a life-without-parole sentence in return for his testimony, and Gardner鈥檚 ex-wife selling the gun.

Ashley Heether, Gardner鈥檚 ex-wife, said she sold the gun to help her mother pay utility bills, and that she didn鈥檛 come forward sooner because she was afraid of what Gardner might do to her.

鈥淲e acknowledge that the state鈥檚 evidence against Gardner, including his own statements and admissions, were significant. But it was not overwhelming,鈥� Stab wrote. 鈥淢oreover, Gardner鈥檚 statements, including his interview on June 13, were key pieces of evidence for the state. As such, we are not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the admission of the June 13 interview did not contribute to the verdict.鈥�

Brusic said his office will review the evidence in the case in light of the appellate court鈥檚 decision and see what is left to take to trial.