DNA leads to charges in years old Yakima County rape cases

An unknown rape suspect has been charged in connection with two attacks that happened more than seven years ago — based only on DNA.

By Mark Morey

Yakima Herald-Republic

YAKIMA — An unknown rape suspect has been charged in connection with two attacks that happened more than seven years ago — based only on DNA.

The charges are the first time such a case has been filed in Yakima County, said deputy prosecutor Patti Powers, who handles many of the county's sex-crime cases.

The move stops the clock on the statute of limitations, which would expire 10 years from the incidents.

If the suspect is arrested in connection with another crime that requires the collection of DNA — such as rape or another violent offense — then Yakima County's charges could be pursued.

As DNA technology has improved, police around the country have reviewed older cases in hopes of making a match.

Yakima police Capt. Greg Copeland said detectives have examined most or all of the pending cases in which they believe DNA could be useful.

The analysis was performed at a state crime labs. The Washington State Patrol, which operates the labs, does not track how many DNA-only rape charges have been filed, but several similar cases have been filed in other counties.

The two sexual assaults mentioned in the charges — which were filed last week — are a rare example of stranger rape in the Yakima area, Copeland said. Most rape cases involve family members or acquaintances.

The first case was reported on July 27, 2000. A woman who was then 38 years old said she was walking from a downtown nightclub around midnight when the attacker walked up behind her near Fifth Avenue and D Street. He grabbed her and said he would walk her home, then led her toward some bushes, where he raped her, according to the police report.

The second case was reported on Feb. 26, 2001.

A woman, who was then 54 years old, reported she was looking for the family's pet in the 500 block of North Second Street when the suspect walked up from behind her. He overpowered and sexually assaulted her, according to the police report.

The victims were only able to provide a vague description of the suspect.

Driver arrested after striking pedestrian on SR 202

P-I Staff

A Bellevue man was arrested late Sunday after his vehicle struck a pedestrian walking along State Route 202 in Fall City, the Washington State Patrol reported.

The 53-year-old driver was booked into the King County Jail for investigation of vehicular assault. The pedestrian, Matthew R. Mahaffey, 34, of Snoqualmie, was taken to Harborview Medical Center, the State Patrol reported.

The collision was reported just before 7:30 p.m. The 1991 Honda Civic was heading west when it struck Mahaffey. Investigators think the driver was under the influence, the State Patrol reported.

Man found shot in Snohomish

By JON NAITO
P-I REPORTER

A 49-year-old Snohomish man was found wounded Friday morning from a gunshot to the head, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies responded to a 911 call from the victim's brother about 9:17 a.m. The brother said he went to the man's home on the 6100 block of 171st Avenue Southeast after he had not heard from him for several days.

The brother told deputies that he found the man on his bedroom floor with a single wound to his head. A gun and gun-cleaning rod were found near the victim, and there was no indication of foul play, the sheriff's office said. The man was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center.

Jury set to decide fate of deputy charged in civil rights case

By SCOTT GUTIERREZ
P-I REPORTER

Jurors are expected to begin deliberating Wednesday whether a King County sheriff's deputy violated a woman's civil rights by allegedly striking her several times while she was handcuffed.

Brian Bonnar, 42, is charged in U.S. District Court with depriving Irene Damon of her civil rights by using excessive force against her. On Oct. 22, 2005, Damon, a known crack addict, led police on a high-speed chase through Burien and White Center and then, after she stopped, fought with deputies trying to arrest her. Damon had rammed two patrol cars.

One of her passengers, Alvin Wafer, was wanted on a warrant for selling crack.

"Everyone, including those who commit crimes, have rights under the Constitution that should be protected," Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Harris said during his closing argument Tuesday.

Bonnar is accused of kneeing Damon in the head at least twice and slamming her head against a patrol car after she'd been handcuffed for resisting arrest. Four deputies testified during the weeklong trial that they saw Bonnar strike Damon, although with variations in their accounts. Many of the witnesses had also struggled with Damon on the ground.

Bonnar, whose trial began last Tuesday before Judge Thomas Zilly, also is charged with making false declarations to a grand jury about his conduct. The case marks the first time in at least a decade that a law enforcement officer has been charged under the civil rights statute.

Defense attorney David Allen urged jurors in his closing argument to see things from Bonnar's view -- to see that he had to make split-second decisions while tangled with a belligerent suspect who might be armed.

More important, Allen said, were photos of Damon's face after the episode. The photos, displayed in court, showed her face absent of bruises, serious swelling or bleeding, raising doubts about the accusations leveled by other deputies, he said.

Bonnar had two years on the job and less experience than other officers, he said.

"It's remarkable in my mind that Deputy Bonnar is on trial after what Ms. Damon and Mr. Wafer have done, after the mischief they have caused," Allen said.

Harris reminded jurors that evidence of "physical pain, no matter how temporary" is enough to convict a police officer under the civil-rights statute.

Bonnar was suspended for 20 days after an internal investigation, something the jury did not hear. His superiors found that his actions were out of control and recommended that he be fired.

But Sheriff Sue Rahr opted for suspension after conferring with department legal advisers, who thought Bonnar would win an appeal.

Feds: Drug smuggling attempt busted at Birch Point

Federal officials say two Canadians were arrested on a beach in northwest Washington as they were allegedly preparing to smuggle about 260 pounds of cocaine into Canada on a personal watercraft.
SEATTLE —

Federal officials say two Canadians were arrested on a beach in northwest Washington as they were allegedly preparing to smuggle about 260 pounds of cocaine into Canada on a personal watercraft.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, Lorie Dankers, says 48-year-old Dhymitruy Bouryiotis and 36-year-old Montgomery Read Hill, both from the Vancouver, British Columbia, area, were arrested for investigation of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

An agency news release says that at about 1:30 a.m. Friday, federal border agents observed a person, later identified as Bouryiotis, moving heavy objects from a home to the shoreline at Birch Point, southwest of Blaine and a short distance south of the Canadian border.

About 2:30 a.m., a personal watercraft approached the beach and the operator, identified as Hill, met up with Bouryiotis on the beach, where they were arrested.

Agents found five bags on the beach filled with packages of suspected cocaine.

Client assaults public defender

By TRICIA MANNING-SMITH / KING 5 News

LYNNWOOD, Wash. – He is always on the "other side of the fence" – arguing for leniency for the alleged bad guys.

But this time, a local public defender reportedly fell prey himself to a client's fist.

He didn't see it coming, but there is visual testimony that this unsuspecting lawyer was caught off-guard.

"I have a broken nose, I have the black eyes, and it's kind of bleeding over to the other side," said Jim Feldman. "It doesn't feel great. I'm wondering how I didn't see it coming."

"I leaned down to get to the file. The next thing I experienced was a punch," he continued. "Then he hit me again. I felt the second punch."

Outside attorney Jim Feldman's office door, associate attorney Joseph Jordan responded to the fracas.

"I heard a scuffle and a punch," he said. "I was trying to get into the room, he was trying to get out of the room and he pushed me aside."

The suspect allegedly tried to flee the office, but then other workers attacked him right outside the door.

"I just chased him out to the parking lot and I guess I tackled him in the parking lot," said Jordan.

Tuesday's brouhaha erupted from a seemingly minor complaint. David Linden allegedly visited the office of his former attorney demanding a consultation on an old DUI case.

"He was obviously getting more agitated, his voice was rising somewhat," said Feldman. "I said, just sit down and be calm, I don't want to have to call the police."

Feldman says the suspect hit him twice – the first time on the cheekbone.

Now, this public defender finds himself in a unique position.

"I'm always on the other side of the fence, arguing for leniency for the defendant, and now the level of violence impacted me directly," he said.

Police arrested the suspect for second-degree assault. Feldman is still considering how lenient he now feels.

Attorney Jim Feldman has worked as a public defender for nearly 35 years, and although he's been verbally attacked, he says he's never faced physical violence before.

Police arrest two in home invasion robbery

P-I STAFF

Snohomish County sheriff's detectives have arrested two men suspected in a home invasion robbery during which the victim was tied up for several hours.

The robbery happened on Dec. 4 sometime between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at a home in the 9000 block of 163rd Avenue SW.

Investigators said the two men overpowered a woman who was home alone at the time and tied her up. They then stole a pickup truck and some guns.

On Monday, Tacoma police stopped a car for a traffic violation and found the passenger, a 40-year-old man, with a bag that had some of the items stolen in the robbery. That man was booked into the Pierce County Jail.

On Tuesday, Snohomish County deputies arrested a 31-year-old Arlington man, also during a traffic stop, and booked him into the Snohomish County Jail. Both are expected to face charges connected with the home invasion robbery, including robbery, kidnapping and burglary.

The sheriff's office said the men likely cased the neighborhood prior to the robbery and selected the victim's home after deciding there would be valuables inside. Detectives have recovered some of the stolen items.

Two Port of Seattle executives resign in fraud scanda

By GLENN FARLEY / KING 5 News

SEATTLE – Two Port of Seattle executives have resigned in the wake of the Port fraud scandal and more employees could be punished.

“Both employees submitted their resignation after being confronted with this information and I have accepted their resignation,” said Port CEO Tay Yoshitani.

A disciplinary report was released Tuesday morning. Most of the fraud findings involve the third runway at Sea-Tac Airport and a cozy relationship between several Port executives and contractors which resulted in things like altered invoices and no competition in some of the bidding.

Yoshitani identified the executives who resigned as Larry McFadden, General Manager of Port Construction Services and John Rothney, Project Manager for the third runway.

No further resignations or firings have been announced, but more discipline is expected.

The Port’s chief engineer will receive a three week suspension without pay due to his knowledge of a memo in his possession that identified the misrepresentation of some documents that went to the elected Port commission.

Three senior managers have received one week suspension without pay for failing to mention the contingent nature of these contract adjustments that lowered the value of a bid.

A letter of reprimand has been placed in the files of the deputy CEO, the Sea-Tac Airport director and the general counsel because of their positions of authority.

Through all of it, the lead investigator, former U.S. Attorney Mike McKay, says they found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by individuals.

Though they have no totals, the auditors say millions were wasted. They say one contractor known as TTI made profits on the third runway that were double and even triple the normal amount.

Yoshitani says a lot of people were obligated to blow the whistle on what was happening and didn’t do so.

Marijuana grow operation found

By TONYA MOSLEY / KING 5 News

RENTON, Wash. - King County Sheriff's detectives in Renton have discovered what they call a significant marijuana grow operation.

At least several hundred plants were discovered in a home where children live.

Puget Sound Energy crews checked the meters at the Renton home for signs that someone might have diverted the electricity in an effort to hide a major marijuana grow.

It’s not surprising to those who live nearby.

“We know the places to watch out for and it's not surprising that there's a problem down the street,” said Steve Colbeth.

The Sheriff's Department was called after a Child Protective Services worker arrived to do a welfare check.

At some point, someone reporting smelling a strong scent of marijuana. Detectives say soon afterward, they discovered the operation.

Authorities obtained a warrant and expected to be in the house all night, clearing out the marijuana.

It was not immediately known if any arrests were made.

Two teens arrested in Federal Way shooting

P-I STAFF

Federal Way police have arrested two teens in connection with a shooting that left two other teens injured Thursday.

The shooting happened just past 2:30 p.m. Thursday near Alderdale Park in the 2700 block of SW 340th Place, police said.

Officers found the two victims, ages 17 and 19, inside a parked Dodge Magnum. The older teen, a Kent resident, was taken to Harborview Medical Center with what police described as life-threatening injuries. He was last listed in critical condition. The second teen, of Federal Way, was also taken to the hospital. He is expected to survive his injuries.

Police believe the two victims were involved in some sort of drug transaction with the two teens accused in the shooting.

The teens arrested in the matter, ages 15 and 17, have since been booked into the King County Juvenile Detention Center for investigation of first-degree assault.

The following cases of note were decided recently in Washington's high courts:

By: Dena Alo-Colbeck

Supreme Court:

State v. Warren: The Court held that comments by the prosecutor that suggested that the defendant did not enjoy the benefit of reasonable doubt constituted prosecutorial misconduct, in that the comments were improper and prejudicial to the defendant. The Court also found improper comments by the same prosecutor in a related trial with the same defendant that presumed facts not in evidence and commented on the role of defense counsel. However, the Court found that the curative instructions given by the trial court eliminated any prejudice that may otherwise have been caused by these comments. The Court further held that an order barring contact between the defendant and his wife for life was not an abuse of discretion despite the fact that the order was with a class of person different from the crime victim, because in this case the defendant has a history of domestic violence against his wife, and his wife's testimony in the trial had been instrumental in convicting the defendant, so that protecting the wife was in fact directly related to the crimes in this case. A copy of the decision may be viewed online at: http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/793565.opn.pdf


Division One Court of Appeals:

State v. Hall: The Court ruled that the defendant's double jeopardy protection was not violated when he was convicted of multiple courts of tampering with witnesses, as the unit of prosecution for the crime of witness tampering is "any one instance of attempting to induce a witness or a person to do any of the actions set forth in RCW 9A.72.120." A copy of the decision may be viewed online at: http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/60538-1.pub.doc.pdf

State v. Chang: The Court held that a warrantless search of the defendant's car properly came under the protective search exception to the warrant requirement when officers had information that there was a gun in the defendant's car and the defendant was only a couple of strides from the vehicle when he was detained. The Court further held that there was sufficient evidence to support a conviction for possession of stolen property (access devices) based upon checks that were in the defendant's possession, despite the exception in the law for paper instruments, because the State charged the defendant with possession of stolen property based on the account numbers on the checks, which defendant had used to illegally obtain money from the victims' accounts. A copy of the decision may be viewed online at: http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/60743-0.pub.doc.pdf


Division Two Court of Appeals:

Aberdeen v. Regan: The Court held that a revocation of probation based on a condition that the defendant have no criminal law violations does not require a finding of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, simply evidence "sufficient to reasonably satisfy the court that the defendant violated a condition of probation." A copy of the decision may be viewed online at: http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/36715-7.08.doc.pdf


Division Three Court of Appeals:

State v. Beito: The Court held that the defendant was seized when, as a passenger in a vehicle, the officer stood outside his door, blocking his exit, told him he was not free to leave, and continued to stand outside his door while conducting a warrant check over the radio. At the time, the Court found that the officers had no reasonable articulable suspicion that the defendant had committed or was about to commit a crime or that he was a threat to anyone's safety, the seizure was in violation of his right to privacy, and all evidence obtained as a result of the search, including evidence of warrants out for the defendant's arrest found during the warrant check conducted while the officer stood outside the defendant's door must be suppressed, and the case dismissed. A copy of the decision may be viewed online at: http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/263797.opn.doc.pdf

State v. Grogan: The Court held properly admissible statements child hearsay statements, ruling that the trial court properly found the child competent, and the statements met both the statutory requirements and the Ryan reliability factors. The court further found that the defendant's statements to the police were admissible when the defendant had voluntarily surrendered himself for an interview and polygraph, was told he was free to leave at any time, and was allowed to leave when he first asked to do so. A copy of the decision may be viewed online at: http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/265111.opn.doc.pdf

Judge accused of being rude, undignified

By DEBORAH FELDMAN / KING 5 News

SEATTLE – At a hearing at the King County Courthouse Wednesday, members of the state Commission on Judicial Conduct listened to testimony against King County Judge Judy Eiler.

In 2005, Eiler was found guilty by the commission of being rude and undignified on the bench and sent to get more training. Now she's facing the same allegations again.

In an unusual role reversal, a parade of witnesses who once testified before Eiler came to testify about her Wednesday.

"I just felt she was very rude, very curt," Tammy Mazanti said." Very mean."

Eiler has been a King County District Court judge since 1992, primarily overseeing cases in civil and traffic court.

Members of the Washington State Commission on Judicial Conduct on Wednesday listened to audio tapes of Eiler on the bench. In addition, numerous witnesses and defendants from Eiler's past court proceedings described behavior they found rude, sarcastic and intimidating.

"I stood there and she was getting the papers ready and I was smiling because I was trying to be pleasant," Kris Mazanti said. "And she asked me do I think this is funny, and I said no, and she said well wipe that smirk off your face and I was stunned."

Several lawyers who've worked on cases before Eiler also testified they believe her behavior taints the judicial system.

Eiler's attorney said her client has a difficult job hearing 10 to 20 cases a day and pointed out that it's not a judge's job to be warm and fuzzy.

"It's a tough job," Anne Bremner said. "And when you take little snapshots of little parts of cases and what somebody felt when they lost and they have to come into court on it, I think that's inappropriate."

Given that she's been found guilty of rude and inappropriate behavior before, the commission could remove Eiler from the bench.

Testimony could continue through Friday. The commission will likely have a decision by early December.

Troopers checking for seatbelt offenders at night

By ELISA HAHN / KING 5 News

SEATTLE – Beware! If you're driving at night and you're not buckled up, state troopers will track you down.

For the next three weeks, 60 police agencies across the state are conducting extra seatbelt crackdowns at nighttime.

The Washington State Patrol says there's a very good reason they are targeting seatbelt offenders at night.

The goal is to catch seatbelt offenders at nighttime because they tend to be different from drivers caught during the day.

"The people who chose not to wear their seatbelt at night tend to be involved in other criminal activity," said Sgt. Harlan Jackson, Washington State Patrol. "So we might not be just pulling over someone for a seatbelt, that might lead to someone driving under the influence."

From 2001 to 2007, Washington State saw more than 3,200 vehicle crash deaths – about 1,500 during the day, and 1,600 at night.

It may seem almost equal but the death rate at night is four times as high when you factor in how many people are on the road.

Studies show wearing your seatbelts can reduce that risk by 70 percent.

Washington State has one of the highest compliance rates in the country, but they estimate about 4 percent of drivers or passengers aren't wearing their seatbelt and that comes out to almost 240,000 lives that could be saved.

Local fish vendor charged with two felonies

P-I STAFF

A Bellevue-based fish vendor accused of mislabeling thousands of pounds of fish as halibut caught in the United States and Russia, and then selling the fish for profit to consumers, was charged with two felony counts in documents filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle Monday.

Kevin D. Steele, president and owner of Mallard Cove Resources, was charged with the false labeling and sale of fish -- a violation of the Lacey Act -- and the introduction of misbranded foods.

Documents filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office allege that over a three-year period beginning in 2003, Steele sold thousands of pounds of fish labeled as halibut -- a prized and expensive fish -- that was actually a species imported from China known as Greenland turbot, also referred to as Greenland halibut.

Steele, the documents said, repackaged the turbot and labeled it as halibut caught in the U.S. or Russia, before selling the fish at prices for the more expensive product.

Felon sentenced in Wash. to more than 7 years

A 33-year-old street gang member from Tacoma with a lengthy criminal history has been sentenced in U.S. District to seven years and two months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
TACOMA, Wash. —

A 33-year-old street gang member from Tacoma with a lengthy criminal history has been sentenced in U.S. District to seven years and two months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Jermaine Laron Gore was sentenced Friday by Judge Ronald B. Leighton, who told him that he would get "no more second chances."

Gore was on probation from a state conviction at the time of his arrest with a weapon July 4, 2006, after reports of a man waving a gun outside a home in Tacoma. Police found a loaded Rossi .357 caliber revolver in Gore's car.

Gore was prohibited from possessing a firearm because of his previous felony convictions that included assault in the third degree in 1993, drug possession in 1994, three counts of conspiracy to delivery a controlled substance in 2000, conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance in 2002 and unlawful possession of cocaine in 2003. All those convictions were in Pierce County.

Gore was prosecuted by the U.S. government as part of its Project Safe Neighborhoods program.

Criminal Case Law Update

The following cases of note were decided recently in Washington's high courts:

Supreme Court:

State v. Cayenne: The Court upheld a sentencing condition prohibiting a Native American tribal member convicted of off-reservation illegal fisihing using a gillnet from owning a gillnet for the next eight months. The Court disagreed with the Court of Appeals, which had partially reversed the sentence, holding that the sentencing court had no authority to restrict a tribal members rights while on the reservation. The Court pointed out that the defendant had appeared before the trial court and subject to its full sentencing authority, including crime-related prohibitions, and the trial court had authority to impose appropriate sentencing conditions that would follow the individual defendant. Limiting that authority to off-reservations activities, the Court reasoned, "would create the unwanted result of permitting tribal lands to be havens for criminals avoiding justice after violating state laws." A copy of the decision may be viewed online at: http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/804991.opn.pdf

State v. Gossage: The Court held that Mr. Gossage was entitled to a certificate of discharge from his sentence, despite the fact that he had not paid the full amount of restitution ordered, because all legal financial obligations (LFOs) expired ten years from the date of release from confinement under the plain language of RCW 9.94A.760(4). A copy of the decision may be viewed online at: http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/803102.opn.pdf


Division One Court of Appeals:

State v. Webb: The Court held that the State failed to prove that Mr. Webb was physically proximate to the passenger compartment of his vheicle at the time he was arrested for DUI, and therefore the items seized in the search incident to arrest of that area must be suppressed. In this case, Mr. Webb stopped his vehicle in the right hand lane of traffic, was been removed from his car and directed to the sidewalk by the officer who stopped him, and then placed under arrest by a second officer after an interview and field tests. After Mr. Webb was secured in the second officer's patrol car, he gave the officers permission to move his vehicle off the street, which they did, parking it in a bank parking lot some 40-50 feet away. The officers then searched the car, including the use of a canine search, without a warrant and "incident to arrest" and located cocaine and drug paraphernalia. After a lengthy examination of the search incident to arrest exception to the warrant requirement, the court overturned the search, holding that "Washington law requires more than temporal and physical proximity between the arrest and the search. It also requires physical proximity between the suspect and the vehicle at the time of arrest." A copy of the decision may be viewed online at: http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/60732-4.cor.doc.pdf


Division Three Court of Appeals:

State v. Williams: The Court found improper the imposition of a firearm enhancement rather than a deadly weapons enhancement to the defendant's sentence where the jury found that the defendant was armed with a deadly weapon rather than a firearm. The Court noted that the Supreme Court has held that sentencing to a firearm enhancement as opposed to a deadly weapons enhancement can never be harmless error. The Court held that the trial court was without authority to impose a firearm enhancement and remanded for resentencing. A copy of the decision may be found online at: http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/231241.opn.doc.pdf

Man sentenced to 25 years for cold case murder

P-I STAFF

A man who admitted to a 1980 murder in Des Moines was sentenced in King County Superior Court Thursday to nearly 25 years in prison.

James Maynard Blair, 54, pleaded guilty in October to second-degree murder in the slaying of Kirk Parker. Investigators used DNA evidence to link Blair to the crime, charging him in August.

Blair is already in prison serving time for a 2006 assault conviction.

In 1980, Des Moines police officers discovered Parker beaten and strangled to death in his mobile home after going there on a welfare check. But the initial investigation stalled when police could not locate any suspects in the killing.

Then, in January 2006, Des Moines Police Sgt. David Mohr reopened the case and sent items believed to have DNA evidence from the killer to the state crime lab. According to investigators, lab technicians found Blair's genetic signature on several items from Parker's home.

According to court records, Blair told investigators that he had been hitchhiking in the area during the February night that Parker was killed. He said Parker picked him up and took him to his mobile home, where Blair killed him in a drunken altercation.

Police arming Newcastle residents with radar guns

KING5.com Staff

NEWCASTLE, Wash. – Residents in Newcastle who complain that drivers are speeding through their neighborhoods will now have proof.

Newcastle police are arming residents with radar guns. The guns will record the speed and license plate numbers of drivers.

Officers will send out warning letters to speeding drivers. While those warnings will not carry a fine, police say the program will help them determine whether they need additional patrols in those neighborhoods.

Newcastle police say their first volunteer caught over 70 speeders in three days.

McNeil Island prison searched for phones

By IAN DEMSKY
THE NEWS TRIBUNE

MCNEILL ISLAND -- The attempted suicide of a McNeil Island inmate in September highlighted a new high-tech threat for the state Department of Corrections: contraband cell phones.

Over the weekend, the entire prison was on lockdown while officers searched it stem to stern for illicit phones and other contraband. Such prisonwide searches are rare and expensive because of the manpower involved.

Information developed in the suicide case led to the Oct. 31 arrest of a McNeil corrections officer on suspicion of smuggling-in at least one cell phone, a Washington State Patrol spokesman said. The News Tribune is not naming her because prosecutors have not filed any charges in the case.

Cell phones are dangerous behind bars because they allow inmates to have unmonitored contact with the outside world, including with drug and gang ties, prison officials say. Unlike calls made through prison phones, they can't be recorded or screened.

The morning of his Sept. 18 suicide attempt, Leon Toney and another inmate were linked to a cell phone that had been smuggled into the prison, records show. It's also clear from the department's review of the incident that family members found out Toney was hurt not from prison officials, but from someone on the inside. They said the call came from another inmate using a cell phone and that they knew of several others inside.

The phone in the Toney case was the third found at McNeil in the past two years, officials said. No statewide figures were available, but DOC spokesman Chad Lewis said a survey of state prison administrators found they had seized only a couple phones each.

"The number we've seen aren't that high," Lewis said. "But this is different than most other types of contraband. You can only pass a cigarette around so many times. You can pass a cell phone around countless times."

A special team of 44 officers from three other prisons was brought to McNeil on Saturday to conduct the two-day search, which went cell-to-cell and inmate-to-inmate through the 1,280-inmate prison.

The inmates were strip-searched and officers crawled beneath beds and desks, peered into light fixtures, and made sure TVs and radios hadn't been pried open so that contraband could be hidden inside. The two-man teams spent roughly 20 minutes per cell.

"It's a serious thing to inconvenience a whole facility like this," said Jocelyn "J" Hofe, who heads up the Department of Corrections' emergency operations statewide. "It's a disruption for the staff, visitors and inmates."

Most facilities see such large-scale searches only every few years. But, officials noted, they only augment the daily cell searches the facilities already do.

Bringing in the specialized team from outside prisons adds fresh eyes, said DOC administrator Earl Wright, who supervises several prisons, including McNeil. It also provides training opportunities for the specialized officers and McNeil staff.

Hofe said some contraband may have been flushed or destroyed when it became clear that a sweep was happening. "But it still gets it out of the prison," she noted.

As of Sunday afternoon, officers turned up several homemade tattoo guns and a small amount of drugs. A syringe was found inside a jigsaw puzzle box in a common area. Also seized was a fist-sized pouch of tobacco that had been hidden inside an inmate's radio. Investigators estimated it was worth $200 to $300 on the prison black market.

No cell phones were found, however.

"This is a whole new game for us," McNeil Superintendent Ron Van Boening said in a recent interview. "They (cell phones) are getting smaller and smaller."

The inmates know officials are looking for the phones and are going to great lengths to hide them, he said. It's tough, officials admit, because some of the phones are small enough to be, in prison parlance, "keistered."

The state Department of Corrections is weighing administrative and legislative approaches to increasing the penalties for being caught with a cell phone, said Lewis, the DOC spokesman. The department is also training its drug-sniffing dogs to find them, though budget cuts have reduced the number of dogs across the state from eight to two.

Cell phones aren't just a problem in Washington. Last month, a state senator in Texas received a cell phone call from a death row inmate. The caller told the senator he knew that he had two daughters and gave their ages, address and other personal details he had gleaned from the Internet, the Austin American-Statesman reported. Officials found the phone had been used to make more than 2,800 calls in the previous month alone.

While prison officials stress the dangers cell phones pose behind bars, prisoner rights advocates say there's another reason they're coveted -- they allow inmates to keep in touch with family.

Maintaining community and family ties is important for an inmate's success upon release, corrections officials say. But at the same time, inmates and their families pay far more to talk to each other than the general public does.

Despite a rate cut in 2006, Washington's rates remain among the highest in the country, according to the advocacy group Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants, or CURE. In surveying rates nationwide, the group ranked Washington ninth-highest out of 46 states where data were available.

The rates, which can be as much as 22 times higher than the five cents per minute many South Sound residents pay for long distance, amount to a tax on some of the poorest members of society, said Kay Perry, coordinator for CURE's Campaign to Promote Equitable Telephone Charges.

"A lot of states spend millions of dollars trying to help inmates transition out of prison and build a social network when they get out," she said. "But the current telephone systems tear families apart. The family members pay for it -- you're punishing them only because they love somebody."

While most types of inmate calls in Washington are now billed at a flat rate -- either $3.15 or $3.50, depending on how it's paid for -- out-of-state calls cost $4.95 plus 89 cents per minute, or $22.75 for a 20-minute call. The average wage for state inmates is about $1.15 per hour.

About 60 percent of what state inmates and their families spend on phone calls goes to programs that have nothing to do with phone service.

From September 2007 to September 2008, inmates at Washington's 17 prisons and their families paid for $8.7 million in phone calls, according to records obtained by The News Tribune. Under a contract with Chicago-based FSH Communications, $5.1 million of that is given right back to the DOC.

Most of that money goes into an Offender Betterment Fund, which pays for items like school supplies for inmates' children, books and staff for prison law libraries, and cable TV service. A quarter of it goes toward a state fund for crime victims and witnesses.

Perry says she understands the argument that the $5 million commission that returns to the DOC is $5 million that taxpayers don't have to spend. But to her, it's unfair to shift that burden to inmates and their families.

"It's all of our responsibility," she said. "When society makes the decision to incarcerate somebody, we have the responsibility to rehabilitate them. All citizens should have to pay for rehabilitation programs that help these people turn their lives around. Otherwise you're taxing some very poor folk."

Police shot co-owner of home, not burglar

P-I STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES

EVERETT -- The owner of an Everett house where a 31-year-old man was shot and killed by police early Saturday says the man was a co-owner of the house and lived there.

"It's devastating. He didn't deserve to die," Bear Whalen told The Everett Herald.

Whalen described the slain man as his friend who was a good person who cared about his community and was a volunteer.

"He never even got a ticket. He respected the law," Whalen told the newspaper.

Three Everett police officers responding to a report of a burglary shot and killed Whalen's roommate at the home. Investigators found a shotgun next to the man's body, officials reported Sunday.

Snohomish County sheriff's spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said someone in the neighborhood called police just before 2 a.m. Saturday to report that someone was breaking windows and kicking in the door of a nearby house.

Hover said three officers arrived and said they were confronted by a man with a gun, standing in the doorway of the home.
Officers said they repeatedly ordered the man to drop his weapon but he refused. The three officers fired multiple shots at the man. Hover said he died at the scene.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office had not released the slain man's name.

The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave, while a team of detectives from throughout the county investigates.

The officers were a 24-year-old woman who has been with the Everett Police Department for 2 1/2 years, a 33-year-old man who has been with the department for 2 years and a 29-year-old man who has been with the department for 1 1/2 years, Hover said.

Whalen, 28, said he went with the man who was slain with some friends to a bar Friday night.

Whalen said his roommate went home about 1 a.m., while he said he spent the night at a friend's house.

Gunnar Nelson, 26, a neighbor, told The Herald: "I just wish my friend was back. I don't know how long it's going to take to get over this."