Attorney: Money spent on Byron Scherf better spent on prison security

The state of Washington will spend millions of dollars carrying out Byron Scherf’s death sentence. But, one attorney argues we could spend those millions improving the prison system.

“This is a crime that shouldn’t have happened and should have been prevented,” Jeffery Ellis told Seattle’s Morning News. Ellis is the Director of Oregon Capital Resource Center and represents two convicts currently sitting on Washington’s death row.

“Are we going to spend a million-plus dollars over the next decade increasing prison security, or are we going to spend a million-plus dollars attempting to execute Byron Scherf?” he asked.

Ellis doesn’t believe that Scherf will ever see his execution day. He said by the time Scherf and his attorneys are done with all of the appeals his case will endure, often taking over 10 years, the death penalty will have been abolished in Washington, or abolished in the entirety of the United States.

Scherf was already spending a lifetime behind bars for rape and murder when he attacked and killed Monroe Correctional Facility officer Jayme Biendl.

“We need to keep prison safe – the question is – how do we do that?” asked Ellis. “Are we keeping prisons safer by spending millions of dollars to kill Mr. Scherf? Or do we make prisons safer by increasing staffing, by increasing security?”

While it may sound like Ellis represents death row inmates because he thinks the death penalty is fiscally irresponsible, it’s certainly not the only reason. “I don’t believe in the death penalty […] I think it discriminates, ” he said. “I think it’s bad public policy.”

Under Washington state law, Scherf will automatically appeal the his death sentence to the Washington State Supreme Court.