YH-R files public records lawsuit against Yakima County

The Yakima Herald-Republic on Friday sued Yakima County for records of how more than $2 million was spent by attorneys acting as public defenders for two men charged with a pair of 2005 murders.

The records were sealed by Yakima County Superior Court Judge James Lust, and the newspaper's request that the county hand them over was denied by county Prosecutor Ron Zirkle on the grounds he couldn't defy Lust's order. The lawsuit claims that denial violates the state Public Records Act.

That act "mandates full disclosure of public records including expenditures of public resources on private legal counsel or private consultants," the Herald-Republic's attorney, Brendan Monahan, wrote in the suit.

The newspaper seeks the records as part of its ongoing coverage of the murder case -- the cost of which is unprecedented in the county. The lawsuit focuses on billings submitted to the county by court-appointed attorneys for Jose "Junior" Sanchez and Mario "Gato" Mendez. Sanchez and Mendez were convicted for the February 2005 shooting deaths of 21-year-old Ricky Causor and his 3-year-old daughter, Mya.

Attorneys for Sanchez, who was a candidate for the death penalty, racked up about $1.5 million of the fees.

Just what that paid for is the main issue in the newspaper's suit. And it has Zirkle's office caught between the Public Records Act and the judge's order. Zirkle, who has said he supports the newspaper's efforts to unseal the records, did not return a call Friday afternoon seeking further comment.

However, one of his deputies, Paul McIlrath, filed a motion Thursday asking the court for guidance.

The matter caused another, lesser dispute between the county and the newspaper Friday.

Yakima County Commissioners Mike Leita and Rand Elliott called a meeting with newspaper officials to stress that they had no role in deciding whether to release the documents. They objected to a Thursday headline in the newspaper calling the matter "County's $2 million secret." That headline could be read to mean the commissioners, as heads of the county, were not good stewards of public money, Leita said.

Though Zirkle and Lust are county officials, they are separate from the commissioners, who have limited authority over judicial matters.

"Maybe that's nitpicking, but we are sensitive," Leita said.