Pacific County Superior Court

Outside of the DSHS drama that consumes weekly court dockets, an accused murderer’s attorney failed to show up, two accused rapists reached plea agreements, and a now-convicted man continues to plead his innocence.

The state was represented by Pacific County Prosecutor Michael Rothman, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Daniel Crawford and Senior Deputy Prosecutor Joe Faurholt. Indigent defense consisted of attorneys David Hatch, David Arcuri and Justin Kover.

Lisa G. Milam

Lisa G. Milam’s attorney Michael J. Nagel did not show up for a scheduled hearing in person or via Zoom. The judge recalled the case at the 3 p.m. docket to give him another chance to appear, but he did not.

According to subsequent court records, the court issued a show-cause order for Nagel to appear in court on March 17 to explain himself.

Milam is a defendant in one of the county’s two active murder cases. She is accused of beating her sister to death in July 2022. Her case remained dormant for over four months while the court awaited a competency evaluation to determine if she was fit to stand trial.

As a result of Nagel’s failure to appear as her counsel during the docket, the court has since struck her trial that had been set to begin April 10.

Erick L. Garret

Facing two separate cases in the court, Erick L. Garret reached a plea agreement for his oldest case from 2019, in which he faced charges of third-degree assault, second-degree assault, and fourth-degree assault domestic violence. He pleaded to an amended charge of third-degree assault domestic violence. Once he is sentenced, the prosecutor’s office will dismiss his second case.

Garret’s formal sentencing is scheduled for March 17. The prosecutor’s office will be seeking 22 months in prison with 12 months of community custody, with a standard range of 17-22 months.

Raul Mora

A mix-up with paperwork has stalled Raul Mora’s entry of a plea agreement, and it will be reheard on March 31. Mora faces a charge of third-degree rape of a child and will be pleading guilty as charged. He faces a standard range of 6-12 months, 12 months of community custody, and registration as a sex offender.

His attorney, Kover, is expected to ask for the low end of the range or a Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative for Mora. The sentencing will be set out after his plea agreement is entered to allow time for a pre-sentencing investigation to be completed by the Washington State Department of Corrections, which cannot begin until Mora is found guilty.

Steven D.J. Wirkkala

According to Hatch, a plea agreement has been reached and will be entered for Steven Wirkkala on April 14, who is charged with second-degree rape of a child. The delay is so that Wirkkala can attend his grandmother’s funeral on April 8; otherwise, the charge has a mandatory remand into custody clause.

Tara J. Kruse

Tara J. Kruse was arrested on Feb. 22 for residential burglary and fourth-degree assault. She was present for her formal arraignment, and Hatch entered pleas of not guilty on her behalf. He also argued for her bail to be removed or reduced. The prosecutor’s office objected to the request because she has two active South District Court assault cases and 10 previous warrants.

Richter reduced her bail from $50,000 to $10,000 and set her trial dates for May 1-2 and a pretrial hearing for March 24. According to Hatch, Kruse faces a standard range of 3-9 months for the burglary and up to 364 days in jail for the assault.

Randay Jimenez-Medina

Arcuri had a lively exchange with the judge, stating that he was curious how many more reviews it would take for the prosecution to “give up and dismiss the case” against Randay Jimenez-Medina. He noted they had another review hearing scheduled for April 7 “to avoid this disaster.” The trial is currently set for May 30-31.

Jimenez-Medina is charged with using a building for drug purposes, allegedly allowing others to sell drugs out of his apartment. His apartment was previously raided by the Pacific County Joint Drug Task Force, where drugs and paraphernalia were found. An infant was also found living in deplorable living conditions.

Matthew W. Peck

Two weeks after Matthew W. Peck was found guilty of two counts of domestic violence residential burglary after a bench trial, he was present for his sentencing. He faced a standard range of 33-43 months in prison.

Faurholt and Kover bickered about the sentencing, which included the state requesting Peck be sentenced to 43 months while the defense argued for 33 months. Faurholt used Peck’s adamance of innocence as an implication of deceit.

Peck’s charges and conviction stemmed from him going to his father’s home after law enforcement told him to stay away. He continued to go to the residence, which resulted in back-to-back charges.

According to court records, Peck has 49 previous cases and had outstanding warrants at the time of his arrest on Nov. 22, 2022. Richter met the request in the middle and sentenced Peck to 38 months in prison.