Meth lab operator to be resentenced March 3
posted 02/14/03
Citing bias on the part of Judge Pro-tem Frank LaSalata, Washington State Court of Appeals reversed and remanded Leonard Barnhouse's eight-year-sentence for operating a methamphetamine lab on San Juan Island. The court ruled he had inadequate counsel after his attorney, Anne Kenefick, withdrew an appeal of the sentence. The court agreed Barnhouse should be resentenced by another judge. Resentencing is set for March 3, 2003.
The court ruled:
Leonard Barnhouse contests Judge Pro Tempore LaSalata's
imposed sentence of 96 months, the maximum standard range sentence for the
manufacture of methamphetamine. Prior to issuing the sentence, Judge
LaSalata made remarks that he wanted to set an example for anyone who was
thinking of producing methamphetamine in San Juan County. Judge LaSalata
also discussed the sentence ex parte with a San Juan County prosecutor
prior to imposing the sentence.
Defense counsel at trial, however, withdrew a motion for resentencing for bias, waiving the issue for appeal. Barnhouse argues it was ineffective assistance of counsel to withdraw the
motion. Barnhouse is correct. Since there was no tactical reason to
withdraw the motion and since Judge LaSalata's actions necessitated
reversal of the sentence, we find that Barnhouse has established his
ineffective assistance claim. We therefore reverse Barnhouse's sentence
and remand for resentencing before a different judge.
According to the court documents, Barnhouse sought resentencing on two grounds:
- Judge LaSalata engaged in a forbidden ex parte communication before sentencing in order to
determine the sentence to impose;'
- 'Judge LaSalata demonstrated
during his pronouncement at the sentencing hearing that he was personally
biased and prejudiced against Barnhouse.'
LaSalata discussed the case with Deputy Prosecutor Alan Marriner prior to the sentencing. While Marriner was not involved with the case, he handles civil matters only, the court ruled:
It does not matter that Mariner was not a criminal deputy prosecutor nor assigned to Barnhouse's case... this prohibition against ex parte
communications includes contacting neutral third parties about a pending
case ... Judge LaSalata clearly violated this Canon
and by doing so clearly called his impartiality into question.
Disqualification was required.
...the evidence of the conversation initiated by Judge LaSalata with
Alan Mariner, the imposition of a sentence greater than recommended by the
prosecution, and the judge's extensive remarks just prior to imposing the
sentence demonstrates potential bias and triggers the appearance of
fairness doctrine. After a claimant presents sufficient evidence of
potential bias, we consider whether the appearance of fairness doctrine was
violated. 'The test is whether a reasonably prudent and disinterested
observer would conclude {that the claimant} obtained a fair, impartial, and
neutral trial.' In addition, we consider the allegedly improper and biased
comments in context.
FULL TEXT OF RULING
Judge sends 'message';
sentences meth maker to 8 years
posted 07/09/2001
Saying methamphetamine manufacturing contaminates a community on several levels, Judge Pro Tem Frank V. La Salata yesterday sentenced Leonard Barnhouse to 96 months in jail.
"Because the meth was being manufactured in a way innocent people, including his children, could be harmed, a message needed to be sent," La Salata said after issuing his decision in San Juan County Superior Court.
La Salata also commented Barnhouse, 40, polluted rental land, and put people and pets visiting a kennel on the property at risk. The judge disagreed with the defense's contention Barnhouse was "simply manufacturing." La Salata said making meth pollutes groundwater and air, is an explosion hazard, and it meth use affects children in schools and adults at work. "It literally invades every aspect our lives," he said.
The judge hopes Barnhouse's sentence serves a warning. "Anybody thinking of manufacturing methamphetamine in San Juan County needs to be aware, if they are convicted, they will be subject to the full penalty of the law," La Salata said.
Minutes after the sentencing, Barnhouse's attorney, Anne J. Kenefick filed a motion requesting the state Court of Appeals review the verdict and sentence.
A jury last month convicted Barnhouse of manufacturing meth. The standard range for such a conviction is six to eight years. La Salata's decision came in under the maximum of 10 years but above the seven years recommended by San Juan County Prosecuting Attorney Randy Gaylord. Kenefick sought six years with the possibility of Barnhouse entering a community-supervision program that might have cut Barnhouse's actual time in prison to three years.
In addition to prison time, Barnhouse was fined $3,000 and ordered to pay another $4,000 in attorney fees and other court costs. Barnhouse and two others convicted in the meth making operation -- his ex-wife Penny Barnhouse and Travis Steckler -- will also share restitution to property's owner. Currently the damage and clean-up is estimated at more than $30,000.
Verdict in meth lab trial
posted 06/29/01
Leonard Barnhouse was found guilty of manufacture of methamphetamine yesterday (June 29) after a three-day jury trial. Sentencing will take place July 9. He was arrested Feb. 4, 2001 after sheriff's deputies and state patrol officers raided a lab located in a travel trailer in a barn on San Juan Island.
Barnhouse was living on the property with his ex-wife Penny Barnhouse, her boyfriend and the Barnhouse's two children. Penny Barnhouse agreed to testify against her ex-husband in exchange for charges against her being reduced. She apologized from the witness stand to her ex-husband for testifying against him. She said she considers him a friend.
Friday Harbor woman pleads guilty in meth case
posted 05/08/01
Penny Barnhouse, 39, plead guilty in San Juan County Superior Court to one count of maintaining a drug house yesterday. She was originally charged with manufacture of a controlled substance -- methamphetamine -- she was arrested February 4, 2001
Maintaining a drug house is a felony and carries a standard sentence range of three to eight months. She was sentenced to four months with credit given for 92 days already served. She was fined $1,000.
Judge sets bail for meth lab suspects
posted 02/06/01
San Juan County Superior Court Judge Alan Hancock set bail and arraignment for two men and a woman suspected of operating a meth lab on San Juan Island. As of Monday afternoon, the three were in Island County jail.
Leonard Barnhouse, 40, is in Island County Jail on $25,000 bail. His former wife Penny Barnhouse, 39, and Travis Steckler, 29, are each being detained in Island County Jail on $5,000 bail. Hancock set the trio's arraignment for 10:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 12.
The three are being held pending possible charges of manufacture of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and maintaining premises for use or keeping a controlled substance.
A raid Sunday of property rented by Steckler and his girlfriend Penny Barnhouse convinced local and state law enforcement agents that a meth lab operated in 23-foot travel trailer in a 60-foot by 40-foot pole barn at 391 Wild Rose Lane, about three miles northwest of Friday Harbor. A Washington State Patrol Special Incident Response Team searched the structures and "found chemicals and chemical by-products and paraphernalia used in the production of methamphetamine," according to an affidavit filed by the county Prosecuting Attorney. "The trailer had its windows sealed with tape, in an attempt to reduce the release of chemical odors produced in the process of manufacturing methamphetamine."
Sgt. Dave Browne, a state patrol detective, found about one ounce of finished product. A field test determined it was methamphetamine, Browne said. He also noted there was evidence that the laboratory had recently been used to produce methamphetamine.
Deputies apparently learned of the meth lab because the property where it operated is for sale. A real estate agent told a sheriff's detective of what she considered suspicious actions by Penny Barnhouse and Travis Steckler during three visits to the property.
According to the affidavit:
- The agent said on the first trip, on Nov. 6, Steckler would not let the her enter the barn and told her to leave. The next day, the agent saw two men go in and out of the barn and Penny Barnhouse would not let her enter the building. Penny Barnhouse supervised the agent's inspection of the barn on Nov. 26 and said visitors could not be alone in it because expensive tools were kept there. A screwdriver in the dirt was the only tool the agent observed.
- A county detective in plain clothes and the agent returned to the site on Feb. 2. Penny Barnhouse and Steckler remained with the detective and agent while they examined the premises. The detective noted the trailer was sealed from the inside, its windows were blacked out, its door was padlocked and there was a strong chemical odor coming from inside it. The detective concluded it smelled like lye, which is used in preparation of methamphetamine. He saw a container of acetone in the barn and a container of iodine tincture in a nearby shed. Both are used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.
- After leaving the property, the detective and the agent suffered symptoms of exposure to toxic and caustic chemicals and had to be seen by a doctor.
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