Former prosecutor tried to stop Benton sheriff’s retaliation and abuse

Testimony at a high-profile lawsuit this week revealed that former Benton County Prosecutor Andy Miller threatened to strip an embattled sheriff of his legal protections so he could be personally sued if he continued to retaliate against county employees.

But the jury will not be allowed to consider exactly what steps were taken by county officials to put a stop to ex-Sheriff Jerry Hatcher’s behavior. It is the latest in a complex case brought by six current and former Benton County sheriff’s command staff and deputies.

The case is in its fourth week in Walla Walla Superior Court and is aiming to wrap up by Friday.

Attorneys are walking a tightrope to try and ensure the jury is only considering whether the men are owed damages, not how the county responded or whether it did enough to protect them.

That has lead to many pauses for attorneys to argue what they are allowed to ask witnesses.

The group, who are asking for millions in damages, are Mat Clarke, Jason Erickson, Jon Law, Erik Magnuson, Steve Caughey and Todd Carlson. Two of them, Caughey and Carlson, allege they were forced out of their jobs.

Benton County’s defense

The defense attorneys for Benton County, led by attorney Andrew Cooley, began calling their witnesses Tuesday. The jury has previously heard from the former deputies, Hatcher’s ex-wife and mental health and financial experts.

At the beginning of the trial, Cooley told jurors to remember three things: the case is against Benton County, not Hatcher; the plaintiffs should be assessed individually; and that the election recall process worked and Hatcher was held accountable when he was voted out of office.

Most of the testimony from the county’s witnesses focused on four investigations that led up to the recall process.

The first investigation was a domestic violence allegation against Hatcher made by his ex-wife Monica Hatcher, the second involved more than 14,000 rounds of county-owned ammunition found at Hatcher’s home, the third was an internal human resources investigation by an outside attorney and the fourth was an investigation by Detective Carlos Trevino over concerns about Hatcher’s behavior during the ammunition investigation.

Ultimately, none of those investigations led to criminal or civil penalties, but they did lay the groundwork for the Washington state Supreme Court to allow the recall process to move forward.

Fighting back

Miller, the county’s now-retired prosecutor of 36 years, told Judge Brandon Johnson he felt like his reputation was being attacked, and he was made to look like he just sat on his hands while Hatcher ran wild.

Concerned about the limits being placed on his testimony, he asked to have some information put into the court record without the jury present.

He said the truth was that when Hatcher sent him a letter implying he wanted to put certain deputies on the “Brady List,” his response was not to sit by idly.

The potential impeachment disclosure list, more commonly known as the “Brady List,” contains witnesses whose integrity and trustworthiness could be questioned if they were called to testify that is normally kept by the prosecutors. It is often considered a “career-ender” for law enforcement.

Miller said he told Hatcher to leave the men alone, and that if Hatcher took retaliatory action, he would consider those actions outside the scope of his job and make sure that the county was no longer indemnifying the sheriff.

That would mean any legal action the deputies decided to take could be filed directly against Hatcher and the county would not foot the bill or help defend him.

Miller said he also made it clear that if Hatcher wanted to discipline any of the involved deputies, it would need to go through his office with guidance by the county’s human resources team to ensure it was not being done in retaliation.

He said Hatcher backed off the direct threats to “Brady” the deputies, and later he placed Hatcher himself on the Brady List.

“I have always said that there were good people harmed by Sheriff Hatcher’s actions,” Miller told the jury.

Miller said he does not necessarily agree that the Brady List is a career killer, but it can make the job of a law enforcement officer more difficult. He acknowledged that many do see it as a “death sentence” though.

Miller’s role in investigations

Miller also detailed his role in the investigations into Hatcher’s alleged abuse of his ex-wife and the other investigations that followed.

He said that he was first approached by County Commissioner Jerome Delvin about a law enforcement officer who was being accused of domestic violence. Even after learning it was Hatcher, Miller said that he felt he had a duty to ensure an investigation took place.

The jury had previously been told that Delvin had learned about the accusations from Erickson. Delvin described Hatcher as a “bully” in a pre-recorded deposition played for the jury.

Miller did have to follow state rules when it came to the investigation. Hatcher being an elected official made the issue more complex. Only a felony conviction or recall vote could remove him from office.

The deputies eventually organized a successful recall effort, but they said it took nearly two years of investigations, retaliation by Hatcher and their whistleblower complaints before receiving Washington state Supreme Court approval for the ballot initiative.

Even finding a prosecutor to handle the criminal allegations was difficult.

Due to interlocal relationships, Franklin, Yakima and Walla Walla counties would be automatically ruled out from handling it.

Eventually, Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell took on the initial investigation, but was unable to handle the second.

Miller said he also personally called Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste to request his help with the domestic violence investigation, and gave Monica Hatcher a number of referrals for help finding an attorney and domestic violence services.

Miller seemed to express frustration with not being able to do more. During the domestic violence investigation, Hatcher forced his ex-wife to take back her allegations. Miller missed calls from Monica Hatcher while trying to coordinate with investigators on how to handle it.

She did not want to send the email but Miller and the investigators told her to go ahead because it would open Hatcher up to witness tampering charges. Miller said he felt like a coward missing her calls, then having to tell her that.

The investigators responded by assuring Miller he was doing the right thing, as frustrating as it was. It helped create a record that aligned with statements Jerry Hatcher had previously made and was evidence he was actively trying to sabotage the investigation.

Miller said he was not surprised because recanted statements from domestic violence victims are common, but what surprised him was that Hatcher seemingly directed it.

“I was certainly surprised when I first heard that he would go and do this, because he would be a lot better off keeping his mouth shut,” Miller said.

“If Jerry Hatcher had half a brain and any common sense, he would have sat down and let the investigation go through.”

Those actions led him to believe that Monica Hatcher was telling the truth.

Undersheriff Jon Law previously told the jury that Hatcher was proud of the way his actions hurt the investigation.

In the follow-up case involving potentially stolen ammunition, Miller tried a different approach. He asked the Washington state attorney general’s office for assistance, which they ultimately declined.

Miller also helped ensure an outside noncriminal investigation took place. He said that he remembers getting many calls from Hatcher about that investigation, known as the “Blatt report,” telling him to redo it.

Miller said his staff also helped the county commissioners carry out the process of taking the jail away from Hatcher, though Miller said he was not directly involved with the process.

After his testimony, the jury had two questions for Miller.

The first was if all law enforcement officials know that only the elected prosecutor can place someone on the Brady list.

Miller said that this was general knowledge, as his office was one of the primary sources of training on the matter. While the sheriff could make recommendations, ultimately it was Miller’s call.

The second jury question asked Miller to expand on what he meant when he said Hatcher had harmed the deputies.

Miller said the deputies involved are good people and good officers. He told the jury that in his experience, no one gets into law enforcement for the money or the stability found in a 9-to-5 job.

“The people I know do it because they view it as a service, they have a passion for justice, they truly believe in protecting their community,” Miller said.

He told the jury that he did not even work for Hatcher, but his actions still managed to make him miserable.

Miller said he did not want to minimize anything the deputies had gone through, and said there was no excuse for Hatcher’s actions.

Could more have been done?

Carlos Trevino, who at the time was the sergeant over the sheriff’s office detectives, also testified that he opened a separate investigation and “took it as far as he could.”

While Trevino said he did not witness the worst of the abuse, he saw plenty of bullying and Hatcher sometimes tried to make him a target.

Trevino said he felt it was clear Hatcher was committing crimes, leading to him open his investigation into Hatcher’s actions during the ammunition investigation.

During court hearings leading up to the recall process, Trevino said he testified that he was shocked at Hatcher’s behavior and felt like the county was not doing enough and that he didn’t think Miller wanted to file charges.

Trevino was quoted as saying at the time, “I’ve honestly never seen this level of corruption at the sheriff or chief level” knowing so many people know about it and did nothing.

When attorneys pointed out, at the time, that county leaders had no ability to stop Hatcher, he was quoted as responding, “it tells me how many cowards we have, honestly.”