Shots fired outside Seattle nightclub

P-I STAFF

Bullets tore into a downtown Seattle business early Sunday morning just feet away from throngs of club-goers.

Just after 1:30 a.m., police were called to the 1900 block of Fourth Avenue after witnesses reported hearing more than a dozen gunshots ring out. Officers were unable to find any victims of the shooting, but the bullets did shatter two large glass windows at an auto shop across the street from Toi Restaurant and Lounge.

Witnesses at the club told police that a man who'd been standing across the street may have been the intended target, according to police. The man did not appear to be injured in the shooting, but had left the scene before police arrived.

According to police reports, security at the nightspot reported seeing a silver Chevy Impala sedan leaving the scene about the time of the shooting. No arrests were made immediately after the incident.

Former Tacoma cop sentenced for child sex crimes

KING5.com Staff

TACOMA, Wash. – A retired Tacoma police officer was sentenced Friday to nearly 20 years in prison for a litany of child sex crimes.

Lee William Giles Jr., 61, received 19 years, 8 months after pleading guilty late last year to first- and second-degree child rape, first-degree child molestation and third-degree assault.

His girlfriend, Maureen Wear, pleaded guilty to the same charges. She will be sentenced at a later date.

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.

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.

Poulsbo cop accused of abusing authority to meet wome

By CHRIS DANIELS / KING 5 News

POULSBO, Wash – A Poulsbo Police detective is out of a job following a lengthy investigation into his alleged misuse of his police authority, including efforts to meet women.

The detective resigned after an internal affairs investigation cited several specific instances of abuse.

KING 5 received the 61 page report after filing a public disclosure request into the activities of the detective.

The internal affairs investigation, which was launched in September, was conducted by the Bremerton Police Department. It determined the Poulsbo detective used his access to private police databases to gather information on people for his own personal gain.

Among the findings, the detective:

-- Abused law enforcement authority.

-- Violated harassment policies.

-- Made untruthful statements about his behavior.

The report claims the detective "improperly accessed law enforcement databases for other than official purposes." The report says sometimes, the detective accessed the databases from home "likely… out of curiosity and personal reasons."

The report doesn't explain why he did it, but it says the detective ran checks on a former waitress "he had shown romantic interest in," and that records showed that he "ran the name of a Bremerton Police officer" that "many would consider attractive."

The report does not say what the detective was using the information for, but that others within the Poulsbo Police Department had concerns that he was using his position to meet women and that "he was pursuing women in an unprofessional manner."

The report concludes "his actions nearly meet the elements of the crime of stalking."

The report also attacks the credibility of the detective and his statements about past cases and incidents.

He resigned December 11, 2007 after being confronted with the report.

New Poulsbo Police chief Dennis Swiney says the resignation was not forced and that he does not believe a crime occurred.

The Kitsap County Prosecutor's Office says it was unaware of the allegations until being contacted by KING 5 News.

Bank robber caught after dye pack explode

P-I STAFF

A suspected bank robber was arrested Monday after a dye pack placed with the money exploded on him as he was exiting the bank, Bellevue police reported.

The robbery was reported about 12:20 p.m. at a Washington Mutual at 106th Avenue Northeast and Northeast Eighth Street, Bellevue police reported.

The robber handed a note to the teller implying that he had a weapon. Police and the FBI were investigating.

Police shoot at suspected drunk driver who tried to run down officer

P-I STAFF

BREMERTON -- Police shot at a suspected drunken driver Monday night after they say he tried to run down a police officer.

Police encountered the man around 7:40 p.m. when a 911 call reported a woman trying to jump out of his car. When police arrived at the scene, the woman jumped out and fled into nearby woods. An officer pursued her, and that's when the driver accelerated his car towards a second Bremerton police officer trying to stop him, police said.

That officer fired at the car and the driver jumped out and fled on foot.

Police later found the man and arrested him on charges of drunken driving and first degree assault.

Kent man who killed intruder had gun permit

Seattle Times staff

A Kent man who shot and killed an intruder inside his condominium Saturday had a concealed-weapons permit, police said.

The 28-year-old homeowner, whose name hasn't been released, shot the unidentified suspect when he returned home around 6 p.m. and saw the man inside, according to Kent police. Police spokesman Paul Petersen said the homeowner "legally possessed the weapon."

The deceased man, believed to be in his mid-20s, has been identified by the King County Medical Examiner's Office, but officials are still trying to reach his family, Petersen said.

Neighbors reported hearing between four to five gunshots, but there were no witnesses other than the homeowner and his girlfriend, Petersen said. After the man was shot, he ran through a broken sliding-glass door and died in the backyard. The glass door was broken before the confrontation, and it's possible that's how the man entered the locked home, Petersen said.

The man who was killed was dressed in black and wore a black hat. He was carrying a satchel-type bag that contained some stolen property from the couple's home, Petersen said.

Cocaine traffic shifts to Pacific, Guard says

P-I STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES

ASTORIA, Ore. -- Coast Guard officials say the bulk of cocaine trafficking over the high seas appears to be shifting from the Caribbean to the Pacific Ocean.

The maritime law enforcement agency nabbed more than 355,000 pounds during the past year, worth an estimated $4.7 billion.

And a recent bust by the Astoria-based Coast Guard cutter Steadfast may have bumped the scales a bit higher.

Crew members seized a Costa Rican fishing vessel and retrieved more than 80 bales of cocaine during a two-month deployment still under way on the Eastern Pacific.

The ship's helicopter crew spotted an 85-foot-long boat Nov. 28, which was reportedly carrying suspicious-looking bags and reversed direction as soon as those aboard noticed the aircraft.

With the helicopter in pursuit, the vessel's crew allegedly began throwing bags and bales of drugs overboard as they sped away from the cutter.

Ultimately, seven people were taken from the vessel and kept aboard the Steadfast that night. Once daylight broke, the Coast Guard seized 81 bales and 49 bricks of cocaine, tipping 4,558 pounds on the scale and carrying an import value of $61 million, according to the agency.

House Judiciary Leader Criticizes DEA’s Attacks On Medi-Pot Dispensaries

December 13, 2007 - Washington, DC, USA

Washington, DC: Efforts by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) urging landlords in California to evict tenants who legally dispense medical cannabis to state-authorized patients has drawn public criticism from US Congressman John Conyers (D-MI), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

In a statement issued Friday by the 21-term Congressman, Conyers said: "I am deeply concerned about recent reports that the Drug Enforcement Administration is threatening private landlords with asset forfeiture and possible imprisonment if they refuse to evict organizations legally dispensing medical marijuana to suffering patients. The Committee has already questioned the DEA about its efforts to undermine California state law on this subject, and we intend to sharply question this specific tactic as part of our oversight efforts."

In July, DEA administrators mailed letters to dozens of landlords in Los Angeles warning owners that they risk arrest, up to 20 years in prison, and the loss of their property if they continue renting to cannabis dispensaries. Since that time, similar letters have been sent to the landlords of other medicinal cannabis providers throughout the state, including several in San Francisco, leading to the closure of various high-profile dispensaries.

Last week the Arts District Healing Center, a Los Angeles-based medical cannabis provider, filed a federal lawsuit in US District Court claiming that the DEA extorted its landlord by sending a letter threatening imprisonment and property seizure.

House oversight hearings regarding the DEA’s actions are anticipated to take place early next year.

For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500 or Dale Gieringer, California NORML Coordinator, at (415) 563-5858. A transcript of Representative Conyer’s remarks appear online at: http://judiciary.house.gov/newscenter.aspx?A=889.

City of Garden Grove v. Sup. Ct. Orange County - Recent California Marijuana Case

Case Name: City of Garden Grove v. Sup. Ct. Orange County, District: 4 DCA ,
Division: 3 , Case #: G036250
Opinion Date: 11/28/2007 , DAR #: 17553

Case Holding:
Health and Safety Code section 11473.5, subdivision (a), permitting the return of controlled substances lawfully possessed by the defendant, is consistent with the Compassionate Use Act [CUA] (Health & Saf. Code, sec. 11362.5) and is not superseded or preempted by federal drug laws. Following a traffic stop by Garden Grove Police officers for failing to yield at a right light, Mr. Kha consented to a search of his car and a small amount of marijuana was seized from a cloth bag. Marijuana possession charges were subsequently dismissed by the prosecution when Mr. Kha provided a statement from his doctor authorizing the use of medical marijuana and the trial court then granted Mr. Kha¢s motion for return of the marijuana. The City of Garden Grove filed the instant petition for writ of mandate/prohibition, challenging the order. The court found the city had standing because constitutional concerns respecting the relationship between state and federal law were implicated and the city would not otherwise be able to obtain judicial review of the trial court¢s order. The court then ruled that for purposes of state law, Mr. Kha, by virtue of meeting the criteria of the CUA, was in legal possession of the marijuana. The City argued that the federal Controlled Substance Act [CSA], prohibiting marijuana possession, nevertheless, justified destruction of Mr. Kha¢s property legally held under the state law. But judicial enforcement of the CSA is precluded because possession of medical marijuana does not constitute an offense under both federal and state laws. (People v. Tilehkooh (2003) 113 Cal.App.4th 1433 [state courts have no authority to enforce federal statutes].) The court also rejected the claim that the supremacy clause [Article VI of the U.S. Constitution] allowed the court to find the federal drug laws preempted state law insofar as allowing return of medical marijuana to qualified users. There is an assumption against preemption and in enacting the CSA, Congress made it clear that it did not intend to preempt the states on the issue of drug regulation. (Gonzales v. Oregon (2006) 546 U.S. 243, 251.) Although the court found against preemption, it made it clear that the CUA does not exempt medical marijuana possession from federal prosecution. Finally, the court found that under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, due process does not permit police to retain a person¢s legally possessed property and Mr. Kha¢s property was ordered returned to him. In light of the finding that federal law does not control in this case, the court did not reach the argument that destruction of Mr. Kha¢s marijuana would violate the Tenth Amendment which reserves residual powers of the federal government to the states.

Woman pleads guilty to drunk-driving deaths

P-I STAFF

A 20-year-old Jefferson County woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of involuntary manslaughter in U.S. District Court in Tacoma.

Sela Kalama admitted that in the hours before crashing her car, she had numerous bottles of beer at a party on the Lower Elwha Klallam Indian Reservation, just outside Port Angeles, in Clallam County.

Under sentencing guidelines, Kalama could face up to 36 months in prison. Sentencing is set for March 7. Kalama lives in Queets, near the western edge of the Olympic National Park.

According to reports, Kalama had six teenage passengers in her car March 18 when she drove into the Elwha River at 3 a.m. Four of her passengers escaped, but two passengers, Vanna Francis, 16, and Ronnie Scroggins, 15, were not able to get out of the car and drowned.

Witnesses also said Kalama was texting on her cell phone when the accident happened. She sent one text message about 90 minutes before the car went in the water stating "I'm drunk."

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Clallam County Sheriff's Office and the Lower Elwha Tribal Police.

Judge's "shocking" words at meeting lead to censure

By Stephanie Rice
The (Vancouver, Wash.) Columbian

Clark County Superior Court Judge John Wulle has been censured for "demeaning, offensive and shocking" behavior at a training conference last year.

Wulle, 57, appeared before the state Commission on Judicial Conduct on Friday in SeaTac.

The judge and seven other people from Clark County, including a deputy prosecuting attorney, a juvenile probation officer and a defense attorney, attended "Planning Your Juvenile Drug Court," July 24 to 28, 2006, in Los Angeles.

According to a nine-page document posted on the commission's Web site, Wulle used profanity, made an obscene gesture in response to a request to lower his voice, and referred to Clark County's group facilitator as "the black gay guy" while at the Los Angeles event. Also, after the facilitator said, "Clark County gets a star" for finishing an assignment, Wulle said, "I don't need a star. I'm not a Jew."

Several witnesses said Wulle smelled of alcohol, according to the censure order.

"[Wulle] denies consuming alcohol at any time during the conference," the order reads. "He recalls suffering from a cold and taking cough syrup, and suggests the odor from the cough syrup may have been misconstrued as an odor of alcohol."

For sanctions, Wulle must take 10 hours of judicial-ethics courses and obtain a drug and alcohol evaluation. If a counselor recommends treatment, then the counselor must submit progress reports to the commission every six months.

Wulle must also take seven hours of racial, religious, sexual-orientation and diversity training.

A censure is the most severe disciplinary action the commission issues, short of asking the state Supreme Court to suspend or remove a judge. Wulle is the first Clark County Superior Court judge to be censured, and only the second local Superior Court judge to be disciplined.

In 1995 a judge was "admonished," the lowest form of discipline, for providing written testimony on behalf of a friend in a child-visitation case in another county. Judges are not supposed to give such opinions without a subpoena.

Wulle said Friday he will use the incident as a learning experience.

"It was never my intent to offend anyone, and I apologize to anyone who was offended," he said.

When Wulle first responded to the allegations in February, he denied impropriety. He wrote to the commission that he has learned "that I cannot step out of my role as a judge even when I'm 2,000 miles away."

But Wulle was sent to the conference in the first place because of his role, the commission noted.

"Because of the special position judges hold in society — as standard bearers of fairness and impartiality — a judge's conduct of personal behavior must, at all times, be above reproach," the commission wrote.

"[Wulle's] actions not only reflected poorly on himself, but also on his fellow team members, his court, Clark County and the state of Washington," the commission wrote. "[Wulle's] inappropriate behavior significantly undermined the team's respect for him. Witnesses at the conference variously described his actions as embarrassing, demeaning, offensive and shocking. Several team members discussed [Wulle's] problematic behavior with their colleagues and supervisors — further eroding public regard for him and the judiciary."

The commission said Wulle's conduct "appears to have been an aberration" and that witnesses do not think Wulle is racist, homophobic or anti-Semitic.

Wulle's reputation is "generally that of a thoughtful jurist," the commission wrote.

But the commission said it censured Wulle, as opposed to a less-severe sanction, partly because of his attitude.

Wulle has demonstrated a lack of personal insight, had never apologized and, when confronted by witnesses or other judges who heard about his behavior, has been "dismissive" of their concerns, the commission wrote.

Wulle, a former assistant attorney general, was appointed by Clark County commissioners to the District Court bench in 1997.

In 2000, he was elected to an open seat on the Superior Court bench. He will be up for re-election next year.

Clark County did start a juvenile drug court this year, but after presiding Superior Court Judge Robert Harris learned about Wulle's behavior at the conference he reassigned the project to Judge James Rulli.

Harris was out of town Friday, but Judge Barbara Johnson, the second-most senior member of the bench, said the censure order is taken seriously.

"We hope that the appropriate steps are taken to learn from it and move on," she said.

Justices: Judges can slash crack sentences

From Bill Mears
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that federal judges have the discretion to give "reasonably" shorter prison terms for crack-cocaine crimes to reduce the disparity with crimes involving cocaine powder.

The 7-2 ruling represents a victory for lawyers who argued that crack-cocaine offenders were unfairly targeted under U.S. sentencing guidelines.

Current federal penalties for selling 5 grams of crack cocaine can warrant the same prison sentence as dealing 500 grams of the powdered variety.

The Supreme Court case centered around Derrick Kimbrough of Norfolk, Virginia, who according to court records, pleaded guilty to distributing more than 50 grams of crack cocaine. Federal sentencing guidelines called for 19 to 22.5 years behind bars. But Judge Raymond Jackson instead gave the defendant a 15-year sentence, calling the case "another example of how crack-cocaine guidelines are driving the offense level to a point higher than is necessary to do justice."

A federal appeals court overturned the case and sent it to a higher court, saying Jackson's discretion was "unreasonable when it is based on a disagreement with the sentencing disparity for crack and powder cocaine offenses."

Said Kimbrough's attorney, Michael Nachmanoff in October, "A sentence of 19 years for a man with no felony convictions who served his country honorably, who had never spent a night in jail ... that was ridiculous."

Kimbrough is a veteran of the 1991 Persian Gulf War and is African-American.

African-Americans were nearly 82 percent of defendants sentenced in federal court for dealing crack, but only 27 percent of those sentenced for dealing powder cocaine, according to 2006 federal statistics. Each year, federal courts handle about 11,000 cocaine sentences, which are roughly evenly divided between crack and cocaine cases.

The issue long has been a source of contention between government prosecutors and civil rights advocates, who argue crack dealers are often targeted for longer prison terms because that drug is prevalent in urban and minority communities, while the powdered version is more commonly associated with higher-income users.

Writing for the majority, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg took a practical approach, saying it is important to preserve judicial discretion, while ensuring most sentences remain within federal guidelines established two decades ago to ensure a measure of uniformity.

Ginsburg said a federal judge was right to give a crack offender a lesser prison term than the guidelines called for, since federal law "mandates only maximum and minimum sentences," she wrote. "It says nothing about appropriate sentences within those statutory guidelines."

Ginsburg noted the trial judge "honed in on the particular circumstances of Kimbrough's case and accorded weight to" reports by the U.S. Sentencing Commission that show "the crack/powder disparity yields unjustifiably harsh sentences for crack offenders."

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented in the Kimbrough case. Thomas said it will now be up to courts "to assume the legislative role of devising a new sentencing scheme," something Congress never intended.

The government had no immediate reaction to the high court's ruling.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission -- an independent federal agency that advises all three branches of government on sentences -- recently cut the gap in recommended prison time for crack-cocaine offenses. The guidelines took effect November 1 after Congress decided not to overturn the changes.

The commission is scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to make those guidelines retroactive for prisoners convicted in the past of crack dealing.

Almost 20,000 inmates could be eligible for shorter sentences under the proposed changes.

Congress recently has introduced at least four bills that would reduce the current disparity in cocaine sentences. One widely circulated proposal led by Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, would revise the cocaine ratio downward to 20-to-1. That ratio is also supported by the Sentencing Commission.

Harsher sentences for crack offenses came after a social epidemic of crack cocaine began destroying many urban areas in the 1980s.

"The crack-cocaine guidelines were put in place because crack was fueling crime waves across the country, in particular with respect to street violence," said Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. attorney in Miami who comments on legal matters for CNN. "And it is clear that crack cocaine and white powder cocaine had a very different impact in terms of not only the lives of the users but the impact on the community."

The case is Kimbrough v. U.S. (06-6330)

Metro bus driver charged with negligence

P-I STAFF

A negligent driving charge has been filed against a former Metro bus driver for her role in an April collision that killed the driver of a car and injured a passenger.

A citation for second-degree negligent driving was filed against Sandie Olosky by the State Patrol on Tuesday in King County District Court in Kent, said Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

The patrol filed the citation after prosecutors said they did not have enough information to charge Olosky, 35, with a felony.

Olosky had not yet entered a plea to the charge, considered a traffic infraction, so it is not clear whether a court hearing will be held, Donohoe said. Olosky did not return a telephone call Wednesday. Dan Wershow, one of her attorneys, declined immediate comment.

Olosky, who was fired from her Metro driving job, has until Dec. 26 to respond to the citation, which would subject her to a $250 fine if she is convicted.

Olosky, 35, was driving a bus that crossed the centerline of state Route 164 near Enumclaw in April and collided with two vehicles, hitting one of them head-on. The driver of that vehicle, Michael Dahlquist, 21, of Enumclaw was killed instantly. A passenger, Aaron Stingl, was injured.

The State Patrol report on the collision said Olosky reacted too late to avoid hitting a sport utility vehicle ahead of her, swerving left and clipping an SUV with the bus before hitting the pickup carrying Dahlquist and Stingl.

Claims totaling $106.7 million have been filed against King County in connection with the accident by Dahlquist's parents; Stingl; John Gillespie, driver of the SUV; and Gillespie's wife, Heather Gillespie.

Scott Weiland of Velvet Revolver Fame Charged with DUI

Velvet Revolver rocker Scott Weiland has been charged with driving under the influence after crashing his car last month.

The troubled star smashed his vehicle on a Los Angeles highway on November 21. Nobody was injured in the accident.

According to police, Weiland refused to take a blood or urine test and was arrested at the scene for "driving under the influence of a drug."
He was released after posting $40,000 bail and is due in court on 13 December (07).

Weiland, whose battle with hard drugs is well-documented, has previously been convicted of DUI in 2003 and for buying crack cocaine in 1995. He was charged with domestic violence in 2001.

Earlier this year, he hit the headlines again after his wife Mary was arrested on arson charges after setting fire to Weiland's clothes outside the couple's Toluca Lake, Calif., home following an argument with the rocker. She blamed her behavior on an imbalance in medications used to treat her bipolar disorder.

Man charged in nightclub shootings

P-I STAFF

A 21-year-old man, whom police identified in part through photographs on MySpace.com, has been charged with three counts of assault stemming from last month's shooting at Capitol Hill's Sugar nightclub.

Michael Anthony Bassett is accused of shooting three people inside the club at 916 E. Pike St. on Nov. 19, critically wounding one with a shot to the abdomen.

The club's owner shuttered Sugar, which was under scrutiny for rowdiness and faced a liquor license suspension for allowing minors into the club, the next day.

Witnesses told police that Bassett walked up behind victim Keith Russell and pushed him out on the dance floor, according to court documents.

Russell tried to break free, then witnesses saw muzzle flashes and heard gunshots. Russell was shot at least twice, a woman on the dance floor was hit in the leg and another man was struck in the wrist, according to police documents.

Bassett, an unemployed registered sex offender staying with his girlfriend near Puyallup, told police that he was at the club but denied any involvement in the shooting, documents say.

Better Sign Your Traffic Citation in Utah or. . .

Judge's DUI rulings eyed

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

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.

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 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.