Supreme Court Declines to Hear Appeal in Eight-Year-Long Case

The state Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal of a man convicted in a 2005 double-murder in Yakima, possibly ending the eight-year-long, financially-expensive case.

Jose Luis Sanchez Jr. and Mario Mendez are the two men convicted of aggravated first-degree murder for the killings of Ricky Causor and his 3-year-old daughter, Mya, during a home invasion on South 18th Avenue in February 2005.

Sanchez's lengthy case cost taxpayers $1.5 million in legal bills with Sanchez ultimately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Mendez's pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 years with his defense team compiling fees of $560,000.

The Yakima Herald Republic reports that part of Sanchez’s appeal involved the constitutionality of conducting his jury trial in a courtroom at the Yakima County jail rather than the Yakima County Courthouse.