A murder case from 2014 in criminal justice spotlight during Douglas County DA race
The three candidates running for district attorney in Douglas County, Kansas hold divergent views on how to handle the prosecution of Rontarus Washington, a 24-year-old man who was jailed more than five years without being convicted and continues to await a second trial.
Charged in the November 2014 death of Justina Altamirano Mosso, Washington was jailed more than four years before the first murder trial ended with a hung jury in September 2019.
As the years have stretched on, Washington’s case has garnered attention.
Earlier this month, Washington’s case became a rallying cry as protesters gathered in Lawrence calling for an end to racial injustice. After a judge reduced Washington’s bond from $750,000 to $500,000, local activists and businesses raised funds, setting him free after more than five years at the Douglas County jail.
“I’m so happy he got released,” said Angela Keck, Washington’s defense attorney. “I thank the community of Lawrence for making that happen. It’s amazing.”
Each of the three Democratic candidates have different takes on the case. Incumbent Charles Branson said his office plans on continuing to move forward on a re-trial. Cooper Overstreet said he supports dismissing the case, while Suzanne Valdez said she hasn’t seen the evidence, but believes the system has failed both Washington and Altamirano Mosso.
The case will be one of several criminal justice issues voters will have to consider as they fill out their ballots. Critics of Branson have said his office lacks transparency and have rebuked his handling of sexual assault cases. However Branson has touted his office’s creation of a behavioral health court and his decision to end prosecuting simple marijuana possession charges.
No Republicans are running for district attorney. The three candidates will face off in the Aug. 4 primary.
The incumbent
Elected in 2004, Branson is seeking a fifth term as DA and said he plans on moving forward with Washington’s re-trial.
“As any case, we always continue to evaluate cases and make sure that the evidence we’re proceeding on is appropriate and trustworthy,” he said. “We have not received anything that indicates that law enforcement’s conclusions on this case are inaccurate or wrong.”
Branson said he based his decision on much of the same evidence from the first trial, including statements made by Washington during the investigation and forensic evidence. He pointed to fingerprint evidence and a bloody shoe print.
Altamirano Mosso was bludgeoned and stabbed to death on Nov. 7, 2014. Her body was found two days later at the apartment she and her ex-husband had shared, though she had moved out in the weeks prior to her death.
Washington lived in the same apartment building.
Prosecutors said during the first trial that Washington entered Altamirano Mosso’s apartment to steal money and was caught.
“He reacted by using that weapon of opportunity, the toilet tank lid, and then went and got the knife to finish the job,” assistant district attorney C.J. Rieg told the jury.
Washington’s fingerprint was found on the underside of the toilet lid and a shoe print with the victim’s blood found at the scene belonged to him, according to court transcripts from the first trial.
Prosecutors also said Altamirano Mosso’s phone was found above Washington’s apartment on the roof and pointed to his demeanor during interviews with police.
“But you know from that interview, he never acted scared, did he?” Rieg said at the trial. “He’s not scared of the police.”
The jury could not come to a decision, but Branson said “the split in the vote by the jurors was very, very favorable to the state.”
“We believe that this case deserves its day in court with the public as the trier of fact,” he said.
While Branson said he understands the criticism on the length of time the case, he blamed Washington’s defense for prolonging the process.
“The state only gets 150 days to bring a defendant to trial unless the defense asks for continuances, which is what has happened in this case,” he said.
The case, according to Branson, has been continued 11 times.
“I think it’s disturbing,” he said.
In the lead up to the second trial, Washington’s defense team has filed several motions for new evidence to be admitted, including DNA testing of fingernail scrapings and testimony from a crime scene expert.
“The state hasn’t been able to get a conviction in five years and our client is presumed innocent,” Keck said. “We’re going to fight for his innocence.”
In a motion filed last month, defense attorneys accused Branson’s office of withholding evidence, engaging in prosecutorial errors and racial bias during the first trial.
Branson’s office said the state will file a written response to each allegation by Aug. 21.
“We believe the State’s response will provide an appropriate factual basis for the court to deny the defense motion in its entirety,” trial assistant Dorothy Kliem said in an email.
The defense attorney
Overstreet said he would see if there’s a way to dismiss the charges against Washington.
”I would do everything in my power, everything that’s legal and ethical, in order to review and dismiss Rontarus’s case,” he said. “If ethically or legally, I could not do that as DA, then I would refer it to an unbiased, independent prosecutor who would do a thorough, unbiased examination of it.”
The first jury did not find enough proof to convict Washington.
“From the evidence they presented at trial, I think it’s clear that there were issues there and that there are questions, and all of that leads to things that a prosecutor and the DA should be able to look into to determine whether it’s a good idea to go forward with a trial,” Overstreet said.
Washington’s defense team pointed to an alternate suspect at the first trial.
During closing arguments, defense attorney Adam Hall said Washington called out to anyone in the apartment and went inside when there was no response. He walked towards the bathroom and saw the victim’s head in a strange position on the tub and blood.
“He turned and quickly left the apartment,” Hall told the jury, adding that blood was found on the bottom of Washington’s shoes, but not on top.
His fingerprint was on the toilet tank lid from a previous time he had been in the apartment, Hall contended.
Defense attorneys pointed to Altamirano Mosso’s ex-husband as the killer.
Altamirano Mosso had cheated on Felipe Cantu Ruiz several times and according to Hall, Cantu Ruiz thought she may be pregnant with another man’s child.
On the morning of her death, Cantu Ruiz called her 21 times and sent a message that said, “You don’t know how much I hate you ... You are the worst trash I’ve come across, the worst person I ever met,” court transcripts said.
A Lawrence Police Department incident report from eight months before her death lists Altamirano Mosso as a victim in a domestic battery case, though no charges were filed.
Hall also said Cantu Ruiz referred to himself as “a widower” on the day she was murdered.
However prosecutors argued that Cantu Ruiz was moving to Manhattan at the time of the murder and that he took a selfie of himself on the drive there.
The defense countered by saying it was suspicious that Cantu Ruiz decided to move on the day of the murder and that the photos were a way of setting up an alibi.
Overstreet said the case exemplifies systemic issues including racial disparities and mass incarceration.
“There is no way that a young man should be in jail that long,” he said.
“My role is always, number one, first and foremost as an arbiter of justice and that means looking at cases like Rontarus’s with so much scrutiny and making sure investigators aren’t engaging in confirmatory bias when they’re investigating and making sure that my prosecutors are going into court and arguing cases with the ultimate goal of making sure that justice is served and justice has not been served in Rontarus’s case.”
Overstreet, who was with the Swain Law Office, represented Washington at the beginning of the case, but said the firm had to withdraw for financial reasons.
Keck said she didn’t think Overstreet would be able to make any decisions about the case if elected.
Overstreet said when a defense attorney becomes a prosecutor, each case is evaluated individually to see if there is a conflict of interest.
The law professor
Valdez, a University of Kansas law professor, said she has not seen the evidence in the Washington case.
“We need to look at the evidence and if it looks like he needs to be re-tried, I would,” she said.
Washington’s five-year stint in jail was “problematic,” Valdez said.
But also problematic is that justice for Altamirano Mosso has also gone unfulfilled.
“There’s been no justice for her,” Valdez said.
She was critical of both Branson and Overstreet in that regard.
”This is what I call another ‘Branson special,’” she said. “I mean we could go down the list of cases where he just hasn’t followed through on his obligation — his higher obligation — as a prosecutor to do the work of the public.”
Valdez pointed to other Douglas County criminal cases as well as the employment of prosecutor Amy McGowan. Throughout McGowan’s career in Jackson County and Douglas County, she was repeatedly accused of withholding evidence and made improper statements in court, according to court records. She retired from Branson’s office in November.
Valdez also said Overstreet’s withdrawal from the case was part of the injustice.
”Mr. Overstreet to my knowledge has never helped a poor person ever,” she said. “He puts people in poverty.”
Keck has endorsed Valdez.
“I think she has the ultimate ethics and integrity and I think she would take a very serious look at the case and make a good decision,” Keck said.
