Starting this January, Superior Court is making a change in the scheduling of the criminal trial dockets. The actual number of weeks available for trials will remain about the same, but the trial weeks will be scheduled once per month instead of once every two months. This change will facilitate the scheduling of trials and […]

This following is a portion of a letter recently sent to the Governor and Legislature by the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys: The prosecuting attorneys of Washington State overwhelmingly believe that the people of the state should vote on the question of whether the state should retain the death penalty as an option in cases […]

Before a defendant pleads guilty, the court must first make sure the defendant knows what he or she is doing and they have not been threatened or forced to plead guilty. The defendant must also be informed that pleading guilty means giving up certain rights, including the right to a trial and to appeal. The […]

Not long ago, I was asked to be a special deputy prosecutor for the Prosecuting Attorney of another county. I was appointed to act as a deputy of that county because there was a potential conflict of interest that prevented the prosecutor of that county from prosecuting. I handled the case until I discovered that […]