EVERETT — An Everett pastor won’t face charges in connection with his highly publicized arrest last year.
Snohomish County prosecutors also declined to file any charges against sheriff’s deputies accused of harassing the Rev. Paul Stoot Sr.
Stoot, the pastor of the Greater Trinity Missionary Baptist Church, was jailed Oct. 7
for investigation of obstruction of justice. A sheriff’s sergeant said Stoot failed to follow his orders at the scene of an apartment fire.
After his arrest Stoot sought support from national and state civil rights leaders who said they were concerned that Stoot was mistreated, humiliated and unlawfully arrested by Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson penned a letter to Sheriff John Lovick, indicating that he expected further investigation into the allegations. Demonstrators protested on the steps of the county courthouse.
The president of the state chapter of the National Action Network, a civil rights group affiliated with the Rev. Al Sharpton, called for deputies to be placed on leave while a lawyer probed the allegations.
The outcome of two investigations into the incident has attracted less attention.
When contacted by The Herald on Thursday, Stoot said he wasn’t aware that prosecutors had made a decision. He then referred questions to his attorney Mitch Cogdill of Everett.
Cogdill said the prosecutor’s office should have notified him of their decision.
“I was always confident no charges would be filed against Pastor Stoot,” Cogdill said. He maintained that there were no grounds to arrest his client.
Snohomish County prosecutors reviewed the sheriff’s deputies’ reports on Stoot’s arrest. Prosecutors also considered a Washington State Patrol investigation into allegations that Stoot may have been criminally harassed by sheriff’s deputies.
The sheriff’s office never received an official complaint from Stoot, sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said. When he heard about allegations of criminal misconduct, Lovick asked the State Patrol to investigate.
Joan Cavagnaro, Snohomish County’s chief criminal deputy prosecutor, said she reviewed both investigations. She declined to file charges against Stoot. She also determined that sheriff’s Sgt. Craig White hadn’t committed a crime.
Cavagnaro made her decisions late last year and answered questions about her findings when The Herald recently asked for an update on the case.
Cavagnaro said she found deputies had cause to arrest Stoot, but she didn’t believe a jury would agree that the pastor was obstructing justice.
The deputies believed that Stoot had interfered with their duties.
“They weren’t sure who he was or his intentions. They were distracted from their duties until they could locate him and make sure that he wasn’t going to interfere with the emergency response,” Cavagnaro said.
Cavagnaro said she had to weigh whether a jury would agree that Stoot’s actions amounted to a crime or if they would find that his actions stemmed from his trying to help at an emergency.
“Given the totality of all of the evidence, I didn’t think I’d get an agreement,” she said.
Cavagnaro also reviewed claims that White criminally harassed Stoot and also reviewed an allegation that $200 was missing from Stoot’s wallet when he was released from jail.
There wasn’t a way to prove that a theft occurred, let alone who may have taken the money, Cavagnaro said.
“There wasn’t enough to establish one way or the other,” she said. “I also could not find that the harassment complaint fit the crime of harassment.”
Sheriff’s officials conducted an internal investigation and determined that deputies followed policies and procedures, Hover said. She said such an investigation is routine when there are allegations of a crime.
The incident began when Stoot parked his Cadillac Escalade in front of White’s patrol vehicle.
The pastor was rushing to help a parishioner whose home was on fire.
White reported that he repeatedly told Stoot to return to his vehicle and move it. White said Stoot ignored his commands and continued to walk toward the building. Stoot said he already had asked another church member to move the Escalade out of the way for him. The SUV was moved and Stoot was able to check on his parishioner.
Stoot said he then went back to get White’s business card.
The men’s versions of events differed from there.
Stoot said he wasn’t being confrontational and didn’t raise his voice. White said Stoot began to argue with him. Stoot was told to calm down and cooperate to avoid going to jail. White said Stoot began demanding that he be booked into jail and was yelling at bystanders to take photographs.
Deputies accused Stoot of drunken driving. He was given two Breathalyzer tests at jail. The tests didn’t detect any alcohol.
Stoot later wrote about his arrest in a letter posted on the Web site of the Seattle Medium, an African-American newspaper. He also contacted civil rights and church leaders.
Jackson wrote Lovick about a week after Stoot’s incarceration, concerned that a “member of the Clergy may have been mistreated.”
Later the deputies were accused of retaliating against Stoot for filing a federal lawsuit against the Everett Police Department stemming from the arrest of his teenage son in 2003.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com.
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