(To all supporters: Please sign this petition and share it with others. We also ask that you copy and paste this letter into an email with the subject line, “Branden Platter’s misconduct,” and send it to prosecutor@co.skagit.wa.us.

Or, put it into a word document, then print it out and mail it to the Skagit County Prosecuting Attorney's Office at the address listed below.

There’s no need to donate or “chip in” to promote this petition, as none of the funds benefit the family. Thank you for supporting the Conijns.)

October 10, 2025


Mr. Rich Weyrich
Skagit County Prosecuting Attorney
605 S 3rd St
Mount Vernon, WA 98273


Dear Mr. Weyrich,

We, the undersigned concerned citizens of Skagit County and supporters of fair and accountable justice, demand the immediate termination of Prosecutor Branden Platter for gross negligence and reckless misconduct in his handling of State v. Angela Conijn (Skagit County Superior Court No. 21-1-00085-29).

On October 9, 2025, Skagit County Superior Court Judge Laura M. Riquelme issued a 61-page ruling dismissing the second-degree murder charge against Mrs. Conijn with prejudice under the amended CrR 8.3(b), citing Platter’s misconduct, including the presentation of false testimony that denied the existence of exculpatory evidence. 

This ruling—combined with Mr. Platter’s prior involvement in the similarly dismissed State v. Faire (Okanogan County No. 15-1-00202-1, 2018)—calls into question both his fitness to serve as a prosecutor and whether his actions in this case were, in fact, intentional. The recklessness and ineptitude exhibited by Mr. Platter directly implicate your management of the office of elected prosecutor. The botched handling of this case by your office not only undermines the public's trust in the judicial system, but also has cost Skagit County taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars in wasted court resources, legal fees, and related expenses, and opens up the County to future liability. 

The judge’s dismissal order condemned Mr. Platter’s “profound lack of diligence” and “negligent and potentially reckless conduct” in failing to carefully review 209 discovery photos documenting evidence from the vehicle of Joshua Tryon—the state’s key witness—including one clearly showing a knife. That “overlooked” image directly supported Mrs. Conijn’s self-defense claim and contradicted the prosecution’s central theory of the case. During her trial, Mrs. Conijn and her husband each testified that they saw a weapon in Tryon’s possession during their encounter with him. But instead of performing the basic duties and careful case management required of a prosecutor, Mr. Platter recklessly elicited false testimony from Tryon and Skagit County Sheriff’s Sgt. Anne Weed, the lead detective in the case—both of whom falsely stated under oath that there was no knife. Mr. Platter then exploited this false testimony in his closing argument, maliciously mocking Mrs. Conijn’s defense by repeatedly calling her self-defense claim “absurd” and telling jurors it was “fabricated” and “contradictory to physical evidence.” This outrageously inaccurate portrait painted by Platter tainted the trial, led to a hung jury, and violated Mrs. Conijn’s due process right to a fair trial. The judge labeled this “egregious mismanagement” that “borders on reckless disregard for the defendant’s rights,” a severe breach of prosecutorial standards.

Mr. Platter's prior role in the Faire case in Okanogan County -- where a similar failure to share exculpatory evidence with the defense led to a misconduct ruling, case dismissal and a $850,000 civil settlement -- suggests a troubling pattern. While Mr. Platter reportedly contended he was unaware of the core misconduct that resulted in the dismissal of that case, his direct supervisory involvement in that matter undoubtedly put him on notice about the serious consequences resulting from evidence mismanagement in a high stakes criminal prosecution. Instead, his direct misconduct in the Conijn case demonstrates he has failed to learn any lessons from such previous mistakes. This raises the specter that Mr. Platter’s actions in Mrs. Conijn’s case were, at best, incompetent, or at worst, deliberate. Either way, his actions have greatly undermined the public trust in your office.  After the court’s dismissal of the Faire case, voters in Okanogan County ousted Mr. Platter from his position as prosecutor. This history should have precluded his employment in the Skagit County Prosecutor’s Office, and, in our view, your decision to hire him reflects a serious lapse in judgment and oversight. 

Please be advised that a separate complaint is being prepared for submission to the Washington State Bar Association regarding Mr. Platter’s conduct in this case. The complaint will request a formal review of his actions in State v. Conijn for alleged violations of multiple Rules of Professional Conduct — including RPC 3.3 (Candor Toward the Tribunal), RPC 3.4 (Fairness to Opposing Party and Counsel), RPC 3.8 (Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor), and RPC 8.4 (Misconduct). It will also seek an investigation into your office’s dealings with Mr. Tryon, particularly the lenient sentences and avoidance of jail time he received for unrelated crimes and probation violations. As detailed in the Defendant’s Trial Memorandum and Motions in Limine in the Conijn case, your office's leniency with Tryon raise questions about whether a quid pro quo exchange took place for his giving testimony favorable to the prosecution in the Conijn case.

We also question the decision by your office to charge the Conijns in the first place. Angela and John Conijn have long been law-abiding citizens of this county, who were at home minding their own business when Tryon—a man with a known violent criminal history and on probation at the time—instigated this entire tragic incident on February 13, 2021. Tryon’s own admissions confirm that he had been drinking that day, in violation of his probation conditions, when he trespassed on the Conijns’ property, stole a sign from their yard, and then brutally assaulted John Conijn. He was later caught lying to law enforcement about the circumstances of that incident, which ultimately resulted in the death of Kamran Cohee.

At the time your office made its charging decisions, you were fully aware of Tryon’s criminal history and his lies to law enforcement, yet still chose to accept his account as the foundation of your prosecution. Rather than applying common sense and fairly weighing the full scope of evidence that supported charging Tryon with felony murder for causing Cohee’s death during his own criminal acts, your office instead pursued baseless charges against both Mr. and Mrs. Conijn—charges that have now been dismissed—while failing to hold Tryon accountable whatsoever for his role in these tragic events.

Specifically, your office ignored potential charges against Tryon for trespassing (RCW 9A.52.070), theft (RCW 9A.56.020), making a false statement to a public servant (RCW 9A.76.175), and assault (RCW 9A.36.041). Each of these was supported by his own admissions, the Conijns’ 911 calls, and the physical evidence. This misdirected and malicious prosecution against the Conijns—coupled with the decision not to charge Tryon—reflects negligence, ineptitude, and gross mismanagement of your elected office, as well as a blatant miscarriage of justice.

Furthermore, we demand that Skagit County Sheriff’s Sgt. Anne Weed be added to your office’s so-called "Brady List" for giving false testimony during the Conijn trial. Whether Weed intended to lie or not, her failure to recognize and document the knife—a significant piece of evidence—and her lack of basic care in reviewing all evidence before testifying in a major homicide case call into question her fitness as both a law enforcement officer and a State witness. As recognized by Judge Riquelme's dismissal order in the Conijn case, Weed's negligence contributed to the State's misconduct and to the trial’s miscarriage of justice against Mrs. Conijn. 

Moreover, it is now the legal obligation of your office, under United States v. Brady (373 U.S. 83, 1963), to add Sgt. Weed to the Brady List to ensure that her documented history of false testimony during an official proceeding is provided as potentially exculpatory evidence to any and all defendants in future cases in which she is a witness for the State, protecting the integrity of the justice system.

We urge you to act swiftly to terminate Mr. Platter and to address the systemic failures within your office. Failure to do so will further erode public confidence in Skagit County’s justice system. We expect immediate and decisive action.