Killer spared death penalty

By Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times staff reporter

STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES Charles Champion addresses King County Superior Court yesterday as lead defense attorney Jackie Walsh and King County Deputy Prosecutor Nelson Lee listen. Champion pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Des Moines police Officer Steven Underwood.

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After nearly four years of legal delays and postponements that threatened to make the case one of the county's longest and most drawn out, Charles S. Champion, 22, pleaded guilty in King County Superior Court to first-degree murder instead of aggravated first-degree murder, which could carry the death penalty.

In doing so, he accepted responsibility for the slaying of Underwood and removed himself from the list of state residents facing a possible death sentence.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Champion will likely face 34 years in prison.

During a news conference after the hearing, King County Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng acknowledged the Underwood family's disappointment with the deal, but said practical and careful consideration had led him to believe it was the best possible outcome.

	Charles S. Champion

"The plea we accepted today has brought accountability and finality to the case and was in the best interest of public safety," Maleng said. "It is, however, the imperfect result of an imperfect justice system."

Underwood's family, however, was unhappy with the decision.

"We are greatly disappointed and angry with the outcome, but understand the circumstances that got us here," said Steven Underwood's father, Dick Underwood, reading from a prepared statement. He said an "uncaring court system ... has forced this unfair outcome by allowing endless delays and countless frivolous legal maneuverings."

The resolution of this case hinged on Maleng's willingness to abandon the death penalty. Maleng — who last year agreed not to seek the death penalty against Green River killer Gary L. Ridgway in exchange for his guilty pleas in the deaths of 48 women — denied that his reversal in the Champion case says anything about future cases.

He also said the Champion case was unlike Ridgway's except that both were among "the toughest cases I've ever had."

Prosecutors and defense attorneys acknowledged yesterday that the plea deal was prompted in good measure by the delays and postponements that have dogged the case.

In yesterday's news conference, Maleng said that witness testimony, a critical part of the state's case against Champion, had been damaged by the passage of time and ultimately made going to trial a risk.

Lead defense attorney Jackie Walsh said she was pleased and relieved with the outcome.

"I never believed that filing a death notice in this case was appropriate," Walsh said.

Mark Larranaga, the director of the Washington Death Penalty Assistance Center, which collects statewide data, said yesterday that there's been a drastic reduction in the filing of death penalty cases since Ridgway pleaded guilty to avoid a death sentence.

Pierce County, where two death notices were filed just last month, appears to be the only exception, he said.

Jerry Costello, the Pierce County prosecutor's chief criminal deputy, said "the way we view it is each elected prosecutor is required by statute to personally decide whether to seek death in any given case. What Norm Maleng does is not going to logically influence what [Pierce County Prosecutor] Gerry Horne chooses to do."

Horne filed death notices last month against two men accused of killing a Snap-On tools salesman; he also refiled a death notice in an old case that had been overturned on appeal.

Snohomish County prosecutors agreed that Maleng's decisions have little effect elsewhere.

"I have not seen any change in the way we go about that process," said Seth Fine, deputy prosecutor. Snohomish County Prosecutor Janice Ellis has not sought the death penalty in any case since Ridgway pleaded guilty.

In King County Superior Court yesterday, Champion hemmed and hawed in making his guilty plea before Judge Anthony Wartnik — seemingly unaware of the magnitude of the situation in which he found himself.

Meanwhile, Underwood's widow, Rosathe, sobbed on the shoulder of her mother-in-law.

Rosathe Underwood, other relatives and Des Moines police have faithfully attended court hearings since the officer's death.

Underwood was killed on March 7, 2001, when he pulled his patrol car over on Pacific Highway South to talk to four men. He radioed to dispatch that he recognized Champion, who was wanted on a warrant. Minutes later, Underwood was shot four times. Witnesses told police that Champion, then 18, pulled the trigger.

Champion was arrested the next day in Sumas, Whatcom County, when he poked his head up from the back seat of his mother's boyfriend's car. King County Deputy Prosecutor Nelson Lee said Champion's mother told police they were on the way to the police station, where Champion was going to turn himself in.

Underwood's mother, Sharon, said in the hallway after the hearing that she has accepted that her son's death would not be rectified by the legal system.

"We'll have to find our justice in him, and the life that he led and the people he's loved," she said.

As she turned to hug one of the many supporters surrounding her, she whispered, "Just remember him."

Seattle Times staff reporter Maureen O'Hagan contributed to this report. Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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