Spokane Serial Killer Robert Yates is claiming he had ineffective legal counsel in his latest appeal of his death sentence for the killings of two women in Pierce County in the late 1990s.

The appeal, filed in federal court Monday, is asking for the continuance of his stay of execution, appointment of new legal counsel and appeal of his conviction and death sentence for the killing of two women in Piece County on the grounds that he had ineffective counsel at trial.

Yates claims that his defense attorney did not adequately investigate and present evidence that he has a mental disease, investigate Yates' claim that he suffers from brain damage, present evidence at trial of his "many positive relationships, his acts of caring and kindness and the love he feels for his family and they for him" and completely investigate the minimal risk Yates posed of committing future violent acts if his sentence had been life in prison and not the death penalty.

A new sheriff's report reveals what led up to that frightening shoot out with Spokane County Deputies last summer.

Charlie Wallace was a wanted felon. He shot two deputies during a traffic stop in June of 2012 before taking his own life.

Fortunately both deputies survived the ambush, but the confrontation never should have happened and Wallace should never have been released from prison.

This week the sheriff's department compiled a timeline of what led up to the shootout, revealing gaping holes in our judicial system and a serious lack of communication.

A month before the shooting, Judge Imbrogono released Wallace to a drug treatment facility. After the shooting she took a lot of heat for the decision, but Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich is now trying to clear her name.

"She knew that Charlie Wallace had made threats. That he would have shot it out with law enforcement in his first arrest was not the case. She didn't know that," he explained.

The in-patient facility where Wallace was supposed to be getting treatment also dropped the ball. It took them five days to report Wallace was missing.

On the second day of testimony in the Clay Starbuck murder trial, testimony from the Starbuck children and the introduction of graphic images were shown to the jury to show how she was found after she was killed.

While the children were called to the stand as witnesses for prosecutors, don't make the mistake of thinking they were testifying against their father. They have repeatedly said they think their father is innocent of killing their mother Chanin.

Up until now, the Starbuck kids have had to wait out in the hallway outside the courtroom. As witnesses, they were barred from the courtroom. But now that they've offered their testimony they may chose to watch the rest of the trial.

Fortunately, the children weren't in court when prosecutors introduce more than a hundred crime scene photos. The state is using pictures to put the jury in the same room where Chanin was attacked. Most of the imagery are very graphic, showing that Starbuck had been beaten from head to toe and was also posed after her death to further degrade her.