Pedersen pleads guilty to killing father and stepmother

Is there a legal reason why Pederson and Grigsby will be tried in Yamhill County after they are convicted in Snohomish County? It will be a tremendously expensive redundant trial. Is this done just to spend money, or what? What will be accomplished by having redundant trials in every area that a crime was committed when they will be sentenced to life without parole in the first trial?

From first glance the additional trials appear to be a gross waste of public dollars. Is there an acceptable reason for these trials? Or, do they turn into expensive grandstanding for local public officials?

One potential reason comes to mind. Verdicts get overturned all the time, it seems, for some arcane reason or another. Better to have some backup sentences in other jurisdictions. Might avoid having to conduct a retrial in Washington 10 years from now.

Some will argue it's worth trying to get a death penalty decision, though I'm not among them. That guarantees a very long and very expensive trial, rather than a simple plea bargain like Washington got, and it also guarantees 20 years of very expensive appellate haggling in both state and federal courts.

I'd say, if you can snag another simple plea bargain down here, and give him another life term, go for it. Otherwise, no.

Steve Bagwell
Managing Editor