By Peyton Whitely
Seattle Times Eastside bureau
There are enough questions about the rulings of the judge presiding in the drunken-driving case against King County Councilmember Jane Hague that failed challenges of his jurisdiction in three Woodinville cases may be appealed, a King County Superior Court judge ruled Friday.
In each of the cases before the court Friday, prosecutors had challenged King County District Court Judge Peter Nault and requested another judge. In each case, the challenge was denied, and Nault continued to handle the cases.
Prosecutors also challenged Nault in Hague's case, and Nault denied the challenge.
"There's a common thread running through them: the suppression of breath tests," said Mark Nelson, attorney for the city of Woodinville, which filed the three appeals heard Friday. Nault ruled Wednesday that the results of blood-alcohol tests administered to Hague in June should not be admitted at her trial, now set for February.
Nelson, whose firm Moberly & Roberts also has been assigned as a special prosecutor in the Hague case, said no decision has been made about whether to appeal Nault's decision to suppress Hague's breath-test results, but the appeals of the Woodinville cases raise similar issues.
The appeals seek to force Nault to explain his decisions, said Nelson.
"We want to know why, essentially," he said.
While similar, the cases are not identical, Nelson added. Hague was arrested by the State Patrol on Highway 520 after her car was seen swerving; the Woodinville cases involve arrests by Woodinville police.
The appeals heard Friday were filed Nov. 8, and underlying all three are Nault's record on breath-test decisions, Nelson said.
Rejections of challenges to Nault in the East Division of King County District Court have been occurring for months, Nelson said. The three Woodinville cases were selected for appeal from 10 disputed cases involving Nault.
While the specific reason for the appeals was the rejection of the affidavits of prejudice, Nelson added, the underlying purpose for originally filing the affidavits was Nault's continued denial of allowing breath-test results to be admitted in trials.
"We don't agree with his suppression of BAC [blood-alcohol content] evidence in implied-consent cases," Nelson said.
Implied-consent allows law-enforcement agencies to take breath or blood samples of drivers suspected in DUI cases without having to obtain a search warrant or court order.
State law provides that a driver, in effect, gives consent for such tests in return for the privilege of using public roadways.
The three Woodinville cases involve accusations of fourth-degree assault and of DUI.
In each case, prosecutors filed motions in October asking for another judge, and in each case, the motions were denied by Pro Tem Judge Norm Leopold, who was substituting for Nault, with the result that Nault continued to hear the cases.
Leopold and Nault "acted in excess of jurisdiction, illegally, and committed a clear error of law in denying the petitioner's timely motion for change of judge," argued Nelson in the appeals.
Superior Court Judge Helen Halpert said she would grant the appeal, allowing the matter to be heard in Superior Court, although she was not ruling on the merits of the cases. She set a Jan. 11 deadline for the parties to file responses to her ruling; a trial date will be set later.
Neither Nault nor Leopold appeared; they were represented by the civil division of the King County Prosecutor's Office because they're county employees.
Peyton Whitely: 206-464-2259 or pwhitely@seattletimes.com
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Saturday, December 1, 2007
Friday, November 30, 2007
Bogus cop tries to beat traffic
By HECTOR CASTRO
P-I REPORTER
For the third time in less than a month, Washington State Patrol troopers have arrested someone impersonating a law enforcement officer.
Thursday, drivers began calling 911 just before 4:30 p.m. when a man in a Ford Mustang was seen flashing blue emergency lights in an effort to push through traffic in the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 in Pierce County.
Troopers stopped the Mustang and found blue lights mounted on the grill and around the rear bumper. The driver also had a speaker near the front of the car that emitted sounds much like a police siren.
The driver, a 25-year-old Tacoma man, allegedly told troopers that the lights and siren were just for show. Troopers arrested him for impersonating a police officer and booked him into the Pierce County Jail.
Blue lights mounted in vehicles are legal for law enforcement only, the State Patrol reported.
In early November, troopers arrested two other Pierce County men, in separate cases, for impersonating police officers. One man was in a 1993 Ford Crown Victoria, with spotlight and push bars, when he tried to get traffic on Interstate 5 to move out of his way.
P-I REPORTER
For the third time in less than a month, Washington State Patrol troopers have arrested someone impersonating a law enforcement officer.
Thursday, drivers began calling 911 just before 4:30 p.m. when a man in a Ford Mustang was seen flashing blue emergency lights in an effort to push through traffic in the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 in Pierce County.
Troopers stopped the Mustang and found blue lights mounted on the grill and around the rear bumper. The driver also had a speaker near the front of the car that emitted sounds much like a police siren.
The driver, a 25-year-old Tacoma man, allegedly told troopers that the lights and siren were just for show. Troopers arrested him for impersonating a police officer and booked him into the Pierce County Jail.
Blue lights mounted in vehicles are legal for law enforcement only, the State Patrol reported.
In early November, troopers arrested two other Pierce County men, in separate cases, for impersonating police officers. One man was in a 1993 Ford Crown Victoria, with spotlight and push bars, when he tried to get traffic on Interstate 5 to move out of his way.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Judge tosses Hague's breath test in DUI case
By Peyton Whitely
Seattle Times Eastside bureau
The results of a breath test obtained from King County Councilwoman Jane Hague after she was pulled over for suspected drunken driving cannot be used in court because she was not properly warned of the implications of consenting to the test, a judge ruled Wednesday.
The ruling will make it harder for prosecutors to win a conviction against Hague, who was arrested after a King County sheriff's deputy stopped her June 2 on Highway 520. Court records show Hague's blood-alcohol readings were 0.135 and 0.141 percent; the state's level of intoxication is 0.08.
But jurors in her trial will not be allowed to hear testimony on the readings after Wednesday's ruling by King County District Court Judge Peter Nault, which turns on the wording of the warning given to drunken-driving suspects before blood-alcohol tests are administered.
The portion of the warning that Nault found to be lacking pertains to what drivers are told can result once they submit to a blood or breath test. The warning indicates that drivers who are under 21 could lose their driving privileges if they are found to be in violation of two state laws pertaining to drunken driving but fails to provide the same specific warning for drivers 21 and older.
Defense attorney William Kirk argued Wednesday that the warnings would seem to apply only to drivers younger than 21. A properly worded warning would use language that made it clear that it pertained to all motorists, "regardless of age," he said.
"I have heard this argument quite a few times," said Nault, who said the warnings law-enforcement officers give in administering the breath tests are inadequate.
Lynn Moberly, special prosecutor in the case, said Nault's decision was "very disappointing." But she said it is possible to win a DUI case without using breath-test results.
"It makes it more difficult," she said, although officer statements and physical evidence still can be used at trial.
According to the charges, Hague was eastbound on 520 near the east end of the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge at 11:03 p.m. June 2 when a deputy saw her car nearly hit the median divider twice. The deputy stopped the car and called the State Patrol for assistance. Hague was arrested and taken to the Clyde Hill Police Department, where the breath test was administered.
Hague, 61, had said she had attended a charity dinner in Seattle where she had "a couple glasses" of wine and was returning to her Bellevue home when she was stopped.
Hague was charged with DUI under her married name of Jane Hague Springman on July 16. She pleaded not guilty July 30.
The argument used by Hague's attorney in seeking to exclude the test results isn't new and is among many that attorneys use to fight DUI prosecution, defense attorneys say. In fact, the law was revised in 2004 after several years of successful challenges to the breath-testing process.
But even the 2004 revision opened the door to challenges, including one that threw out the breath test of former Seattle Sonic Rashard Lewis after he was stopped for suspected drunken driving in October 2005 on Mercer Island. His argument, like that used by hundreds of other defendants, was that legislators had overstepped their authority in writing the law and leaving judges with little discretion in accepting the tests. Lewis eventually pleaded guilty to reckless driving.
"In the last three or four years, [blood-alcohol] readings have been suppressed about 50 percent of the time for various reasons, including implied-consent warnings," said Kurt Boehl, a Seattle criminal-defense attorney.
The state's implied-consent law, which is at the center of the Hague ruling, requires that anyone holding a Washington state driver's license must consent to blood or breath tests if an officer suspects intoxicated driving. Failure to do so could result in the loss of the driver's license.
The effect is that when people drive, they give up a right that would be applied in other crimes. That right involves constitutional provisions that a defendant doesn't have to incriminate himself and is innocent until proved guilty.
In a theft case, for example, police would have to get a search warrant to get samples of someone's blood. In a DUI case, a driver, through the implied-consent agreement, has acknowledged that it's OK for police to take a blood sample.
But Kirk, Hague's attorney, argued Wednesday that application of the implied-consent law depends on drivers agreeing to the tests "knowingly and intelligently" and after "having been fully informed of the consequences."
As written, Kirk argued, the warning given to Hague was incomplete and failed to fully document the consequences of allowing the test to be administered.
"The blame doesn't lie with the State Patrol," said Kirk, but rather with the language the Legislature adopted in 2004.
Also Wednesday, Nault approved a tentative schedule in the Hague case that calls for jury selection to begin Jan. 31 and a trial to be held Feb. 5-8.
During Wednesday's hearing Nault asked that the blood-alcohol readings not be reported by the media in order to comply with guidelines relating to the discussion of evidence before trial. The results were made public in August, however, and have been reported previously.
Hague was present in the Redmond courtroom but said nothing during the proceedings and left without comment. Hague, a Republican, won re-election over challenger Richard Pope earlier this month. Her council district includes Mercer Island, Kirkland and most of Bellevue.
Moberly, who was named a special deputy prosecuting attorney in the case Aug. 28 because of a potential conflict of interest involving the King County Prosecutor's Office, had previously asked for a new judge. Initially, Moberly gave no reason for the request other than to say she didn't think Nault would be fair and impartial. But in a subsequent affidavit she cited alleged irregularities in arraignment proceedings and a failure by Nault to follow court rules.
Nault denied Moberly's request Wednesday, saying she had failed to file the affidavit in a timely fashion.
State Patrol spokesman Jeff Merrill said he was not surprised by Nault's ruling, which he said was consistent with rulings the judge has made in other drunken-driving cases.
"We will continue to arrest impaired drivers wherever and whenever we find them," Merrill said. "At some point society needs to conduct an analysis of the process and see where the breakdown is in the judicial process."
Peyton Whitely: 206-464-2259 or pwhitely@seattletimes.com
Seattle Times staff reporter Jennifer Sullivan contributed to this report.
Seattle Times Eastside bureau
The results of a breath test obtained from King County Councilwoman Jane Hague after she was pulled over for suspected drunken driving cannot be used in court because she was not properly warned of the implications of consenting to the test, a judge ruled Wednesday.
The ruling will make it harder for prosecutors to win a conviction against Hague, who was arrested after a King County sheriff's deputy stopped her June 2 on Highway 520. Court records show Hague's blood-alcohol readings were 0.135 and 0.141 percent; the state's level of intoxication is 0.08.
But jurors in her trial will not be allowed to hear testimony on the readings after Wednesday's ruling by King County District Court Judge Peter Nault, which turns on the wording of the warning given to drunken-driving suspects before blood-alcohol tests are administered.
The portion of the warning that Nault found to be lacking pertains to what drivers are told can result once they submit to a blood or breath test. The warning indicates that drivers who are under 21 could lose their driving privileges if they are found to be in violation of two state laws pertaining to drunken driving but fails to provide the same specific warning for drivers 21 and older.
Defense attorney William Kirk argued Wednesday that the warnings would seem to apply only to drivers younger than 21. A properly worded warning would use language that made it clear that it pertained to all motorists, "regardless of age," he said.
"I have heard this argument quite a few times," said Nault, who said the warnings law-enforcement officers give in administering the breath tests are inadequate.
Lynn Moberly, special prosecutor in the case, said Nault's decision was "very disappointing." But she said it is possible to win a DUI case without using breath-test results.
"It makes it more difficult," she said, although officer statements and physical evidence still can be used at trial.
According to the charges, Hague was eastbound on 520 near the east end of the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge at 11:03 p.m. June 2 when a deputy saw her car nearly hit the median divider twice. The deputy stopped the car and called the State Patrol for assistance. Hague was arrested and taken to the Clyde Hill Police Department, where the breath test was administered.
Hague, 61, had said she had attended a charity dinner in Seattle where she had "a couple glasses" of wine and was returning to her Bellevue home when she was stopped.
Hague was charged with DUI under her married name of Jane Hague Springman on July 16. She pleaded not guilty July 30.
The argument used by Hague's attorney in seeking to exclude the test results isn't new and is among many that attorneys use to fight DUI prosecution, defense attorneys say. In fact, the law was revised in 2004 after several years of successful challenges to the breath-testing process.
But even the 2004 revision opened the door to challenges, including one that threw out the breath test of former Seattle Sonic Rashard Lewis after he was stopped for suspected drunken driving in October 2005 on Mercer Island. His argument, like that used by hundreds of other defendants, was that legislators had overstepped their authority in writing the law and leaving judges with little discretion in accepting the tests. Lewis eventually pleaded guilty to reckless driving.
"In the last three or four years, [blood-alcohol] readings have been suppressed about 50 percent of the time for various reasons, including implied-consent warnings," said Kurt Boehl, a Seattle criminal-defense attorney.
The state's implied-consent law, which is at the center of the Hague ruling, requires that anyone holding a Washington state driver's license must consent to blood or breath tests if an officer suspects intoxicated driving. Failure to do so could result in the loss of the driver's license.
The effect is that when people drive, they give up a right that would be applied in other crimes. That right involves constitutional provisions that a defendant doesn't have to incriminate himself and is innocent until proved guilty.
In a theft case, for example, police would have to get a search warrant to get samples of someone's blood. In a DUI case, a driver, through the implied-consent agreement, has acknowledged that it's OK for police to take a blood sample.
But Kirk, Hague's attorney, argued Wednesday that application of the implied-consent law depends on drivers agreeing to the tests "knowingly and intelligently" and after "having been fully informed of the consequences."
As written, Kirk argued, the warning given to Hague was incomplete and failed to fully document the consequences of allowing the test to be administered.
"The blame doesn't lie with the State Patrol," said Kirk, but rather with the language the Legislature adopted in 2004.
Also Wednesday, Nault approved a tentative schedule in the Hague case that calls for jury selection to begin Jan. 31 and a trial to be held Feb. 5-8.
During Wednesday's hearing Nault asked that the blood-alcohol readings not be reported by the media in order to comply with guidelines relating to the discussion of evidence before trial. The results were made public in August, however, and have been reported previously.
Hague was present in the Redmond courtroom but said nothing during the proceedings and left without comment. Hague, a Republican, won re-election over challenger Richard Pope earlier this month. Her council district includes Mercer Island, Kirkland and most of Bellevue.
Moberly, who was named a special deputy prosecuting attorney in the case Aug. 28 because of a potential conflict of interest involving the King County Prosecutor's Office, had previously asked for a new judge. Initially, Moberly gave no reason for the request other than to say she didn't think Nault would be fair and impartial. But in a subsequent affidavit she cited alleged irregularities in arraignment proceedings and a failure by Nault to follow court rules.
Nault denied Moberly's request Wednesday, saying she had failed to file the affidavit in a timely fashion.
State Patrol spokesman Jeff Merrill said he was not surprised by Nault's ruling, which he said was consistent with rulings the judge has made in other drunken-driving cases.
"We will continue to arrest impaired drivers wherever and whenever we find them," Merrill said. "At some point society needs to conduct an analysis of the process and see where the breakdown is in the judicial process."
Peyton Whitely: 206-464-2259 or pwhitely@seattletimes.com
Seattle Times staff reporter Jennifer Sullivan contributed to this report.
Seattle police hunting serial groper
By SCOTT GUTIERREZ
P-I REPORTER
Seattle police are searching for man who has accosted several women in South Seattle the past few months.
The suspect sneaks up behind women near bus stops to grope them. The latest incident was reported Wednesday, police said.
Most of the attacks were reported on Beacon Avenue South, from South Columbia Way to South Cloverdale Street, and near 45th Avenue South. The man apparently is targeting Asian women.
The suspect was described as black, in his late teens to early 30s, and wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt with blue jeans, police said.
P-I REPORTER
Seattle police are searching for man who has accosted several women in South Seattle the past few months.
The suspect sneaks up behind women near bus stops to grope them. The latest incident was reported Wednesday, police said.
Most of the attacks were reported on Beacon Avenue South, from South Columbia Way to South Cloverdale Street, and near 45th Avenue South. The man apparently is targeting Asian women.
The suspect was described as black, in his late teens to early 30s, and wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt with blue jeans, police said.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Hague DUI trial set for February; judge won't allow breath test results
By GREGORY ROBERTS
P-I REPORTER
The drunken driving trial of King County Councilwoman Jane Hague has been scheduled for February -- but breath test results from her arrest can't be used as evidence against her, a judge decided Wednesday.
Hague, 61, was arrested the night of June 2 while driving on State Route 520, police said. Hague has pleaded not guilty.
She failed two breath tests of blood alcohol level, police said. A Breathalyzer registered her breath-alcohol content in two readings at .135 and .141, according to the citation. The legal limit is .08.
But County District Judge Peter Nault ruled Wednesday that the breath tests can't be used in the trail because of defects in implying Hague's consent to them, her lawyer, William Kirk, and prosecutor Lynn Moberly said. The issue has been successfully raised by defendants in other drunk-driving cases.
Prosecutors could still use physical evidence and statements made by police officers.
The deputy who pulled Hague over said she told him she had consumed two glasses of wine that night. He described the councilwoman as "sarcastic and condescending" during her arrest.
Hague later issued a statement apologizing for her behavior during the arrest.
Hague, a Bellevue Republican, was re-elected Nov. 6, defeating Richard Pope, a perennial candidate who ran as a Democrat without the party's support.
Pope made an issue of Hague's arrest in the campaign and his complaints led to the suspension of an interim judge who presided over a hearing in the case.
Nault was scheduled to preside at the October hearing but was absent.
Pope e-mailed court officials and cited the interim judge' s conviction on criminal misdemeanor charges in 2001 and 2005 and questioned his fitness to serve as a pro tem judge.
County District Court Chief Presiding Judge Barbara Linde responded by directing the court to refrain from using the man as a pro tem judge pending further investigation.
P-I REPORTER
The drunken driving trial of King County Councilwoman Jane Hague has been scheduled for February -- but breath test results from her arrest can't be used as evidence against her, a judge decided Wednesday.
Hague, 61, was arrested the night of June 2 while driving on State Route 520, police said. Hague has pleaded not guilty.
She failed two breath tests of blood alcohol level, police said. A Breathalyzer registered her breath-alcohol content in two readings at .135 and .141, according to the citation. The legal limit is .08.
But County District Judge Peter Nault ruled Wednesday that the breath tests can't be used in the trail because of defects in implying Hague's consent to them, her lawyer, William Kirk, and prosecutor Lynn Moberly said. The issue has been successfully raised by defendants in other drunk-driving cases.
Prosecutors could still use physical evidence and statements made by police officers.
The deputy who pulled Hague over said she told him she had consumed two glasses of wine that night. He described the councilwoman as "sarcastic and condescending" during her arrest.
Hague later issued a statement apologizing for her behavior during the arrest.
Hague, a Bellevue Republican, was re-elected Nov. 6, defeating Richard Pope, a perennial candidate who ran as a Democrat without the party's support.
Pope made an issue of Hague's arrest in the campaign and his complaints led to the suspension of an interim judge who presided over a hearing in the case.
Nault was scheduled to preside at the October hearing but was absent.
Pope e-mailed court officials and cited the interim judge' s conviction on criminal misdemeanor charges in 2001 and 2005 and questioned his fitness to serve as a pro tem judge.
County District Court Chief Presiding Judge Barbara Linde responded by directing the court to refrain from using the man as a pro tem judge pending further investigation.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Former Tacoma Police officer, girlfriend plead guilty to child rape
By RAY LANE / KING 5 News
TACOMA, Wash. – A man who vowed to protect the public with the Tacoma Police Department for three decades pleaded guilty Monday to charges of raping and molesting children.
Retired police officer Lee William Giles, Jr. and his girlfriend, Maureen Wear, agreed to plea deals that will send them to prison for at least 20 years.
Giles, 61, and Ware pleaded guilty to first- and second-degree child rape, first-degree child molestation and third-degree child assault.
From the very beginning, the allegations against Giles were stunning. Prosecutors say Giles repeatedly raped his own girlfriend's young son over a period of years, videotaped the crimes, and that Wear – the victim's own mother – was involved in the attacks.
Court papers indicated that other female family members were also victimized. It was Mounting, gut-wrenching evidence that would doom either defendant during a trial.
"There would have been a lot of graphic evidence if this case would have gone to trial," said prosecutor John Sheeran.
That was something Giles and Ware could not ignore.
"I think foremost in Mr. Giles mind, he did not want to put the children through a trial. There were clearly some issues that we thought could be contested during trial. We had pending motions to suppress evidence based on the search warrants, but I think this came down to he wanting to put this behind not only him, but members of his family also," said Giles' attorney, Michael Schwartz.
Sentencing for both Giles and Ware is set for about a month from now. Prosecutors say the victims themselves might be in court those days to watch the two people who terrorized them go to prison for a long time.
"Close to 20 years. Just short of 20 years to life. It's 236 months, and a lifetime sentence in the sense that the Department of Corrections has determined that it's safe to release them," said Sheeran.
Giles faced 17 different counts altogether, but because of the plea deal, that was knocked down to four counts.
Since Giles was a police officer, he most likely will not serve his prison time in a Washington state prison, but rather be sent out of state.
TACOMA, Wash. – A man who vowed to protect the public with the Tacoma Police Department for three decades pleaded guilty Monday to charges of raping and molesting children.
Retired police officer Lee William Giles, Jr. and his girlfriend, Maureen Wear, agreed to plea deals that will send them to prison for at least 20 years.
Giles, 61, and Ware pleaded guilty to first- and second-degree child rape, first-degree child molestation and third-degree child assault.
From the very beginning, the allegations against Giles were stunning. Prosecutors say Giles repeatedly raped his own girlfriend's young son over a period of years, videotaped the crimes, and that Wear – the victim's own mother – was involved in the attacks.
Court papers indicated that other female family members were also victimized. It was Mounting, gut-wrenching evidence that would doom either defendant during a trial.
"There would have been a lot of graphic evidence if this case would have gone to trial," said prosecutor John Sheeran.
That was something Giles and Ware could not ignore.
"I think foremost in Mr. Giles mind, he did not want to put the children through a trial. There were clearly some issues that we thought could be contested during trial. We had pending motions to suppress evidence based on the search warrants, but I think this came down to he wanting to put this behind not only him, but members of his family also," said Giles' attorney, Michael Schwartz.
Sentencing for both Giles and Ware is set for about a month from now. Prosecutors say the victims themselves might be in court those days to watch the two people who terrorized them go to prison for a long time.
"Close to 20 years. Just short of 20 years to life. It's 236 months, and a lifetime sentence in the sense that the Department of Corrections has determined that it's safe to release them," said Sheeran.
Giles faced 17 different counts altogether, but because of the plea deal, that was knocked down to four counts.
Since Giles was a police officer, he most likely will not serve his prison time in a Washington state prison, but rather be sent out of state.
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