Man Cleared To Sue For False Arrest Jailed By King County On Wrongful Charge, He Says He Would Have Settled For Apology

For Rodney Fletcher, wrongfully arrested and jailed more than five years ago for a burglary he never committed, it was a day of sweet redemption.

“I feel everyone is a little safer now,” said a relieved but still angry Fletcher after learning of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in his favor.

The court ruled unanimously that prosecutors are not shielded from being sued if they lie when offering justification for an arrest warrant.

The decision opens the door for Fletcher to press on with his civil rights suit in U.S. District Court against the King County Prosecutor’s Office.

“They tainted my integrity and jerked me around, and they lied,” Fletcher said. “And I expect (a settlement of) seven digits. It’s going to take at least $1 million. I won’t settle for less. Yeah, I guess I’m still bitter about this.”

Fletcher maintains he would never have sued had King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng responded to his attorney’s written request Nov. 11, 1993 - two weeks after charges against him were dismissed - that Fletcher was “owed at the very least an apology.”

“That’s all I wanted - that and my damn money back,” Fletcher, 37, said yesterday, referring to the $3,000 bail he paid to get out of the King County Jail the day after his arrest.

The tall, lanky, brown-haired construction superintendent spoke about his lengthy legal battle between bites of a submarine sandwich during his lunch break at a Renton construction site.

Fletcher said his quest to restore his good name has wiped out his savings and led to separation from the woman he married 10 years ago. The couple, who has three young children, separated Oct. 5, two days before the case was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court.

“I expected all along that we’d win,” Fletcher said. “I’d be thoroughly disgusted had we not.”

Said Timothy Ford, the attorney who pressed Fletcher’s case before the nation’s highest court: “It’s good for common citizens to know that folks on high are not above the law.”

The landmark case stems from the July 27, 1992, theft of computer equipment from Our Lady of Guadalupe School in West Seattle. Five months later, Deputy Prosecutor Lynne Kalina filed the charging documents against Fletcher, accusing him of the crime.

In the charging papers, Kalina said Fletcher had no right to be in the the school. However, Fletcher had worked there in 1992 on a construction job.

Kalina, who remains employed as a deputy prosecutor, could not be reached for comment.

On Kalina’s conduct, Maleng said, “We’ve said from the very beginning that there has not been any evidence that this was an intentional act. … Lynne Kalina is a superb prosecutor, and I have full confidence in her.”

Fletcher’s memory of the arrest on Sept. 24, 1993, is vivid.

“I was sitting in front of a clear-cut on Hobart-Issaquah Road with a couple of buddies,” Fletcher said. “I’d been doing some archery hunting.”

A police officer pulled up, asked him some questions and proceeded to run a warrant check.

“And then he tells me about a felony warrant for burglary. I’d never been notified about anything!”

Shocked and amazed, Fletcher was booked at the King County Jail. “I remember asking them (jail officers): ‘Can you help me? What’s this for? I’ve never stolen anything in my life.”’ The case was dismissed after it was learned that Fletcher was out of town the day of the 1992 burglary.

Fletcher, meanwhile, had no plans to celebrate Wednesday night. He said he had to work late, and besides, “it’s too early to crack open the eggs just yet.”

“I had no idea (suing) would open up such a can of worms, but I’m glad I didn’t let it go away.”