Sequim Gazette staff

The Washington State Attorney General’s Office will seek a United States Supreme Court Review of the decision to overturn Darold Stenson’s double-murder conviction.

Clallam County Prosecutor Deb Kelly said the state office has until Aug. 8 to file a certiorari petition to the high court. In the meantime, the Prosecutor’s Office filed a motion to the Washington State Supreme Court to delay issuance of a certificate of finality in Stenson’s case.

Stenson, convicted in the 1993 murders of his wife, Denise Stenson, and his business partner, Frank Hoerner, appealed his conviction and subsequent death sentence for 18 years before the state supreme court on May 10 agreed with his attorneys and reversed his conviction.

Stenson’s attorneys successfully argued prosecutors withheld the following evidence: FBI information and photographs that raise questions of evidence mishandling. The state supreme court agreed the withholding of that evidence violated Stenson’s rights.