Kent Criminal Defense Law Blog

In 1985, a Seattle man was arrested and convicted on multiple charges of sexual assault for allegedly raping four women. After serving his 17-year sentence, the man was about to go free in 2002 when a state psychologist evaluated him and determined that he posed too great a danger to be released from jail. King County prosecutors filed a petition to have the man civilly committed.

Following the man's civil commitment trial in 2004, the jury concluded that the man was at a low risk of reoffending and released him from jail. Ten months later, he allegedly assaulted four women, one of whom suffered fatal injuries in the attack. The man was again arrested and convicted of multiple assault crimes. He is currently serving five life sentences.

Last month, a Washington judge agreed to defer a domestic violence charge if the defendant, a detective with the Seattle Police Department, agreed to a program of probation and treatment for alcoholism. Normally, people charged with domestic violence are not eligible for deferred prosecution due to alcohol or drug addiction, but an exception was made for this case, according to the presiding judge.

The Seattle officer was charged with one count of fourth-degree domestic violence in October, after sheriff's deputies from a neighboring county allegedly saw him dragging his girlfriend across a gravel parking lot by her hair and coat. At the time of his arrest, the 55-year-old officer was a detective sergeant with the Seattle Police Domestic Violence Unit.

When DNA evidence became mainstream, it changed the process of criminal investigation and prosecution in many significant ways. It also called to attention the shortfalls of traditional methods of gathering evidence, such as eyewitness identification. In fact, recent research found that nearly 200 of the first 250 people to be exonerated by DNA evidence had been wrongfully convicted of the crimes against them as a result of incorrect eyewitness testimony.

Because of the all-too-common inaccuracies that are inherent in eyewitness identifications, courts' reliance on such witnesses has come under fire in King County and across the state and country. But in a recent case argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, the justices ruled that the current protections around eyewitness accuracy were sufficient.

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving after she allegedly drove nearly 20 miles the wrong way on a Washington freeway earlier this week. Police believe that a combination of alcohol and prescription medication contributed to the woman's alleged impairment at the time of the incident.

According to reports from the Washington State Patrol, the alleged drunk driving incident occurred in the early morning hours of Wednesday near Tumwater, which is about 50 miles southwest of Kent. Motorists on Interstate 5 noticed a car traveling north in the southbound lanes of the freeway.

Two Seattle men have pleaded guilty to burglary for allegedly breaking into several businesses and stealing computers and other electronic equipment. However, their guilty plea does not mean they have reached the end of their legal trouble. Both men still face federal charges for allegedly hacking into the companies' computer systems in an attempt to steal business and personal information.

According to the King County prosecutor, the men stole more than $750,000 in servers, computers, and electronic equipment in a series of burglaries in 2010. Businesses in Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond and Woodinville were the targets of the alleged thefts. Last week, the men pleaded guilty to six counts each of second-degree burglary, which carries a sentence range of 51 to 68 months in prison. They will be sentenced in King County Superior Court early next month.

Earlier this week, we reported that the man believed to have fatally shot a Mount Rainier park ranger had been found dead in the park. The man is believed to have died from exposure to the elements less than a mile from the spot where he had fled into the woods after the alleged assault on the ranger and other law enforcement officials.

According to a report in the Seattle Times, the 24-year-old suspect had a troubled past that may have foreshadowed the events leading up to the homicide and his death. He was a military veteran who served as a member of a communications team in Iraq. When his military service ended in the fall of 2009, he had completed nearly two years of active duty and held the rank of private first class.

After an intense manhunt, the body of a man suspected in the killing of a Mount Rainier park ranger has been found, according to a report in the Seattle Times. The man, who was discovered half-submerged in a creek wearing only light clothing, is believed to have died from exposure to the elements.

The fatal incident began when a park ranger set up a roadblock to stop a car that had failed to stop at a chain-up checkpoint. The 24-year-old suspect reportedly opened fire on the ranger's vehicle, killing the ranger while she was still in her vehicle and before she had a chance to return fire. In addition to the alleged homicide of the park ranger, the suspect is believed to have committed an assault by firing on a second park ranger and a county SWAT team, none of whom suffered injuries. Because of those attacks, the SWAT team was delayed in its efforts to reach the fatally injured park ranger.

Earlier this week, two Washington state legislators took action to increase the criminal penalties for people who have been convicted of a drunk driving fatality. If the proposed legislation passes, people who are convicted of vehicular homicide based on drunk driving or a series of similar offenses would receive more than six years in jail, even if the accident was their first offense.

Under the law as proposed by State Rep. Christopher Hurst, the first-time sentence for vehicular homicide caused by drunk driving would increase to 78 to 102 months. Currently, the range for this offense is 31 to 41 months in prison. Hurst is the chair of the House Public Safety Committee.