Suspect’s mom had fling with prosecutor

CHEHALIS, Wash. – Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden has been accused in court papers of using a sexual relationship with the mother of a 17-year-old charged with arson to gain information about the case.

Kristine Wallace told her son’s defense attorney, Jonathan Meyer, about the relationship after her son entered guilty pleas. Meyer filed two motions on July 31 in Lewis County Superior Court, one calling for the case to be dismissed and the other asking that the prosecutor’s office be disqualified from the proceedings.

Golden has denied any wrongdoing.

A hearing on the motions was scheduled for today, but Meyer said he expected the judge to recuse himself and the state Supreme Court to assign another judge to hear the case.

Radio station KITI, which reported on the accusations Monday, also reported that another attorney also has accused Golden of misconduct in a case in which he prosecuted a sex offender who failed to register. In a motion for a new trial, defense lawyer Don Blair said Golden failed to reveal that he had a relationship with a woman whose daughter alleged she had been assaulted by the defendant.

Blair was Golden’s opponent in the primary election for prosecutor last fall. Golden told the Chronicle newspaper in Centralia that Blair’s allegation was untrue. He said he thought the unpleasant politics of last year’s campaign would have ended with the November election.

Wallace said in a declaration filed with the court that she had detailed conversations with Golden about her son Zachary Hughes’ case. She said she shared information with Golden about conversations she had with her son’s attorney and had text message conversations with Golden after court appearances.

“I was shocked,” Meyer said, concerning Kristine Wallace’s statement. “This is the first time I’ve heard of something like this.”

“The relationship was one thing,” Meyer added. “What makes it more infuriating is that he used the relationship to gain information about the case.”

Golden did not immediately return a telephone call from the Associated Press to his office in Chehalis on Monday. He told KITI he had a relationship with the woman but ended it when Hughes was arrested. Golden denied wrongdoing and said he ordered deputy prosecutors not to give the boy special treatment.

Meyer said Wallace was upset and brought the information to him after she realized the damage her relationship was causing to her son.

“I allowed my feelings for a man to distort my commitment to my child and caused me to do things and say things that destroyed his chances at justice,” she wrote in her statement to the court.

Wallace plans to file an ethics complaint with the state bar association, according to her attorney, Joseph Mano.

“I think the motion to dismiss the charge based on misconduct has a lot of merit. I can’t predict what a judge will do,” Mano said.

Hughes pleaded guilty in April in juvenile court to eight counts of arson but has not yet been sentenced. He is being electronically monitored at home.

Hughes also filed an affidavit concerning his mother’s relationship, which he said he had been unaware of. He said his mother had been acting oddly around defense lawyer Meyer and had pressured him to accept a deal with the prosecutor that his defense attorney advised him to reject.