West prosecution unlikely
Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna and Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker said a decision whether to prosecute former Spokane Mayor Jim West on state charges for misconduct in office is still in limbo.
It now appears unlikely that any state criminal charges will ever be filed against West, recalled by 65 percent of the voters three months ago.
Appearing at a Spokane news conference on Tuesday, McKenna, a Republican, said he can’t “seize jurisdiction” over local officials. He said it’s up to Spokane Police Department investigators to look into West’s conduct and decide whether they agree with the November 2005 conclusions of the Spokane City Council’s independent investigator that West broke state law by appointing a young man he hoped to have sex with to the city’s Human Rights Commission.
“I’ve consulted the (Washington) State Patrol and we’ve been in touch with Spokane law enforcement. We’re awaiting their decision,” McKenna said.
“We haven’t done anything,” said Jim Nicks, the Spokane Police Department’s acting chief. “I haven’t seen any of the reports compiled by the City Council.”
Later in the day, Spokane Mayor Dennis Hession, who was appointed to succeed West, said he’s not inclined to direct the Spokane Police Department to investigate its former boss.
West’s “continued presence was an impediment to the continued progress of the city,” and now that he’s gone his past conduct is largely moot, he said.
Any decision to prosecute West should rest with Tucker, who oversees enforcement of state laws throughout the county, Hession said.
“I don’t see any impetus from the citizens suggesting this should be pursued,” Hession said. “If charges are to be filed, that’s Steve Tucker’s area.”
In his Nov. 18 report for the City Council, Bellevue attorney Mark Busto concluded West violated the city’s computer use policies “by accessing profane and pornographic information, pictures and representations on his city computer.” The images were of young men from the Gay.com Web site.
In an interview Tuesday, prosecutor Tucker said he hasn’t even read Busto’s report and has a conflict of interest because he contributed $50 to one of West’s political campaigns. Tucker also said he’s planning to run again this year for another term as prosecutor but hasn’t officially announced his candidacy.
“I’m conflicted out,” the Republican prosecutor said, adding that a potential charge against West would come to his office only if police conclude the former mayor committed a felony. A misdemeanor charge would go to the city attorney’s office, which West oversaw as mayor.
Tucker didn’t say why, if he has a conflict of interest, he hasn’t asked the state attorney general to review the findings of the City Council’s investigator who concluded West had violated state law.
West also violated a state statute prohibiting municipal officials from using their office to further personal interests, Busto said. The statute says, “No municipal officer may use his or her position to secure special privileges or exemptions for himself, herself, or others.”
That happened when West appointed Ryan Oelrich, a young gay man, to the city’s Human Rights Commission “for the purpose of furthering his personal interest in an intimate relationship with him,” Busto concluded.
On Feb. 16, the U.S. Justice Department announced it was not filing federal public corruption charges against West because no money changed hands in his interactions with several young gay men – a requirement of the federal statute – but that didn’t mean wrongdoing didn’t occur.
“In fact we did not attempt to examine whether he might have violated state or local laws,” said Special Counsel Mark Bartlett. Afterward, West held his own news conference and lashed out at the City Council investigation, calling it politically motivated.
In contrast to the West case, the Spokane prosecutor and his senior staff decided earlier this month to re-open the closed investigation into the activities of a Spokane firefighter who had on-duty sex with a 16-year-old girl and took photos.
Hession said he wasn’t involved in that decision made by the prosecutor and welcomes the “second look” at whether criminal charges should be filed.
At Tuesday’s news conference, McKenna described new laws signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire this week that strengthen sex offender penalties.
The new laws mandate prison terms for crimes committed with a sexual motivation; increase penalties for possession of child pornography; require level 3 sex offenders to re-register every 90 days instead of once a year; extend the statute of limitations in cases where the victim doesn’t know the attacker but the attacker leaves DNA evidence; mandate that sex offenders admit their crime in order to get counseling; and allow community recreational facilities to bar level 2 and level 3 sex offenders from the premises.
Those who wish to know where level 3 sex offenders live can find out on the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Web site at www.spokanesheriff.org.