SEATTLE, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- The Washington State Supreme Court reinstated the possibility of the death penalty for the accused killer of a Seattle police officer.
The court ruled King County prosecutors acted legally when they announced their intention to seek the death penalty against Christopher Monfort, who planned to use an insanity defense in the upcoming trial.
Monfort is charged with shooting one Seattle officer to death and wounding another during a brief 2009 crime spree in which he also allegedly firebombed four parked police cars in what he said was a protest against police brutality.
A King County judge ruled in February that Prosecutor Dan Satterberg had not adequately considered Monfort's mental condition, which would be a mitigating factor against a death sentence. Satterberg's office appealed, saying he had given the defense 10 months to come up with its own mitigation statement even though state law allows prosecutors to formally seek the death penalty within 30 days of arraignment.
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