Girl's killer says rights violated during trial

A convicted killer who has been on Washington state's death row since 1991 is asking a Seattle federal court to overturn his conviction — or at least his death sentence — based on alleged prosecutorial and police misconduct.

Jonathan Lee Gentry, 48, who has been on death row longer than any inmate now in the state's prison system, was convicted of the June 13, 1988, slaying of 12-year-old Cassie Holden of Pocatello, Idaho, while she was visiting her mother in Bremerton.

Since he was sentenced to death in 1991, Gentry's case has been before the state Supreme Court twice and the U.S. Supreme Court once. Gentry is now appealing his case in U.S. District Court in Seattle, claiming his rights were violated during his prosecution in Kitsap County Superior Court. In a weeklong evidentiary hearing that got under way Monday, Gentry's lawyers introduced evidence they contend undermines the legitimacy of his conviction and the death sentence.

The state counters that even if those issues have merit, they are insufficient to overturn the conviction and punishment given all the evidence against Gentry.

Gentry death-penalty case


June 13, 1988: Just two days after arriving in Bremerton to spend the summer with her mother, 12-year-old Cassie Holden of Pocatello, Idaho, is slain near Rolling Hills Golf Course. Her body is found two days later.

Aug. 16, 1988: Kitsap County Sheriff's Office says a man being held in jail for rape matches the description of the person detectives are seeking in the slaying of Holden.

Feb. 26, 1990: Jonathan Lee Gentry, 32, is charged with Holden's slaying. At the time, Gentry is serving a 20-year prison sentence for the knifepoint rape of another girl.

June 26, 1991: Gentry is convicted of aggravated first-degree murder and is later sentenced to death.

Jan. 6, 1995: Gentry's death sentence is upheld by the state Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision.

Oct. 2, 1995: The U.S. Supreme Court denies a request by Gentry for a hearing on his appeal to overturn his conviction.

Feb. 17, 1999: The state Supreme Court again upholds Gentry's death sentence. In a 7-2 decision, the court said, "Gentry has not provided us any reasons to re-examine issues we previously resolved in direct review. Moreover, he has not demonstrated the existence of new issues" to examine.

March 6, 2006: A weeklong evidentiary hearing into Gentry's claims that his rights were violated during his prosecution opens in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

Among those present Monday were Cassie's father and stepmother, Frank and Diane Holden of Pocatello, Idaho. The Holdens say they believe Gentry is "nitpicking" and searching for "technicalities" to avoid his punishment, and besmirching the integrity of the prosecutors and police officers who brought him to justice.

"The fact is the guy is guilty," Frank Holden said. "For us the only two things they should be discussing is one, set the [execution] date, and two, what kind of execution he's going to take [lethal injection or hanging]?"

In opening statements, Scott Engelhard, one of Gentry's lawyers, identified a series of issues he contended denied his client a fair trial. Among them: alleged undisclosed payments to jailhouse informants who testified against Gentry; unexplored questions of whether the crime was premeditated; and the state's "emotionally explosive" racial references to jurors.

Engelhard noted that the victim was white, as were all the jurors, and Gentry is black. During the trial's closing arguments, a Kitsap County deputy prosecutor repeatedly told jurors that Gentry referred to the victim as a "bitch," Engelhard told U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik. "There is no bigger word in this case," Engelhard asserted.

Engelhard also alleged that detectives "fed the hunger" of informants eager to make a deal by giving them money and other favors, including reduced jail time, in exchange for their damaging testimony against Gentry.

Assistant State Attorney General Greg Rosen dismissed Engelhard's allegations as "baseless." Gentry's lawyers, Rosen asserted, were trying to spin pieces of information in the "most sinister" manner possible to make it look as if prosecutors and police conspired to secure his conviction.

He also urged the court to take into account all of the evidence in the case — not just on the issues Gentry's lawyers have raised. Rosen said there was an abundance of physical evidence, which included DNA and blood evidence, as well as eyewitness testimony that implicated Gentry.

Though Gentry has been on death row longer than anyone at the state penitentiary in Walla Walla, others have awaited execution longer.

Mitchell Rupe spent 18 years on death row before his aggravated-murder conviction was finally overturned because a federal court judge decided that hanging a person of his weight would result in cruel and unusual punishment. Rupe died in prison Feb. 7 following a lengthy battle with liver disease.

Assistant Attorney General John Samson said that regardless of how Lasnik rules, it's likely Gentry's case will be on appeal for at least another two years or so.

"It's just bizarre to us that this ... is allowed to go on," Diane Holden said. "The other thing that is baffling to us is why he's such a coward. I mean he did it, he needs to own up to it, accept his impending death, perhaps ask forgiveness. ... He's committed a crime, and he's due to die for it."

Peter Lewis: 206-464-2217 or plewis@seattletimes.com