Arson Suspect Wants Maleng Taken Off Case

King County prosecutors should remove themselves from the case of Martin Pang, accused of setting a 1995 warehouse fire that killed four Seattle firefighters, his defense attorney said Tuesday.

John Henry Browne filed a motion asking the King County Superior Court to impose a “gag order” on county Prosecutor Norman Maleng and to order his office to withdraw from the case.

Maleng’s “normally professional approach to criminal justice issues has been compromised in this case by his … personal statements of belief in Mr. Pang’s guilt,” the motion says.

Maleng has held five news conferences about developments in the Pang case, the defense motion says, and media reports indicate this case and the Seattle Seahawks lawsuit have increased the profile of the prosecutor, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor.

In a telephone interview Tuesday, Browne suggested a special prosecutor could be appointed to try the case or someone from the state attorney general’s office could do so.

Maleng declined comment. Dan Satterberg, Maleng’s chief of staff, called the filing “outrageous posturing with no merit.”