County initiated complaint against high court justice

Prosecutors in Snohomish and King counties confirmed Thursday it was their complaints this week that landed state Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders in hot water with Washington’s judicial watchdog agency.

The state Commission on Judicial Conduct on Monday charged Sanders with violating three rules governing judges’ behavior during a January 2003 tour of the state’s sex predator center on McNeil Island.

The complaint accuses Sanders of creating the appearance of impropriety by having conversations with convicted sex offenders whose cases were pending before the state’s high court.

If the charges are supported by the citizen commission, Sanders could face discipline, including sanctions, suspension or removal from the bench.

Sanders did not return a phone call seeking comment, but on Monday his office released a statement to the Associated Press saying he "believes his conduct will be fully exonerated."

Snohomish County prosecutors last year moved for Sanders to recuse himself from cases dealing with local sexual predators’ challenges to the law that keeps them locked up indefinitely in the prisonlike treatment center.

The move came after they were told of Sanders’ conversations with the men during the tour, said deputy prosecutor Seth Fine, who heads the appellate unit for the county prosecutor’s office.

The Commission on Judicial Conduct in March 2003 received a complaint about Sanders’ reported conduct on the McNeil Island trip.

"We were one of the people who brought it, yes," Fine said.

Prosecutors in King County joined the complaint, spokesman Dan Donohoe said.

The judicial commission’s investigation was confidential until charges were filed on Monday. The complaint includes a letter Sanders sent to the commitment center’s superintendent prior to the tour, outlining steps the judge intended to take to avoid potentially compromising his ability to hear cases.

Despite acknowledging the "the ethical boundaries inherent in his proposed visit, he (Sanders) overstepped those boundaries. While at the center, he conversed with more than 15 residents and initiated discussions on the topics at issue and impending cases," the commission said.

The talks went on for so long that Sanders had to catch a later ferry back from the island, the commission said.

Fine said prosecutors were concerned because the issues reportedly discussed with the judge were central to the cases he was hearing. An appellate judge usually decides a case based on the trial record, not by investigating personally.

"Obviously, we would not have done this if we had not been very concerned about what Justice Sanders did, and we believe it was a violation of the ethical rules," Fine said.

Prosecutors believe Sanders has been consistent in ruling against law enforcement, said Mark Roe, Snohomish County’s chief criminal deputy prosecutor.

"That is his right," Roe said. "But consistently ruling a certain direction is one thing. Going to chat with defendants who have cases against you is something else again."

Sanders has three weeks to respond to the commission’s charges. No hearing has been scheduled.

Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.

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