State of Washington v. William E. Talbott II

Mount Vernon, Washington criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged with two counts of aggravated murder.



In mid-November 1987, Jay Cook's father sent Cook to Seattle to buy parts for his furnace business in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Cook invited Tanya Van Cuylenborg to join him on the trip. They planned to leave on Wednesday, November 18, and return the next day. However, the pair did not make it to their destination. For the next few days, family members distributed posters and went on several trips to find the missing couple.



Van Cuylenborg's body was found on November 24 in Skagit County, displaying evidence of sexual assault. Cook's body was found on November 26 in Snohomish County. Despite a multicounty law enforcement effort to solve the murders, no arrests were made. It was not until 30 years later that law enforcement, with the assistance of a genealogist, identified Talbott as the source for DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) that was collected in 1987. Talbott was arrested in 2018 and charged with two counts of aggravated first degree murder.

We reaffirm that if a party allows a juror to be seated and does not exhaust their peremptory challenges, then they cannot appeal on the basis that the juror should have been excused for cause. Here, Talbott did not attempt to strike juror 40 with an available peremptory challenge, he did not exhaust his peremptory challenges on other jurors, and he affirmatively accepted the jury panel as presented. As a result, Talbott is not entitled to have his for-cause challenge to juror 40 considered on appeal. We reverse and remand to the Court of Appeals to address the claims it did not reach in its prior opinion.