TACOMA — Michael Hecht has testified in his own trial, defending himself against allegations that he had sex with male prostitutes and threatened to kill one of them.
The Tacoma lawyer, now a Pierce County Superior Court judge, is charged with patronizing a prostitute and felony harassment. In the harassment count, prosecutors allege he threatened to kill a man who claims he sold sex to Hecht.
On the witness stand Monday, Hecht said he’s not a sex client but simply a grandfatherly type trying to help people. He said he took one accuser back to his law office after hours to offer friendly advice.
Closing arguments in the trial are expected today.
Seattle: Woman suspected in carjacking, bank holdup
Seattle police broke a taxicab window to arrest a woman following an attempted carjacking and a foiled bank robbery.
Officer Mark Jamieson said a teller told a uniformed police captain shortly before noon Monday that a man was trying to rob the downtown bank.
The captain told the man to show his hands, but he walked out and entered a taxicab that also contained a woman and the driver. When the captain ordered everyone in the taxi to show their hands, the man threatened the driver, who ran away.
Jamieson said the man couldn’t get the car in gear and fled on foot. After more officers arrived, police broke the rear window with a nonlethal projectile and took the woman into custody for questioning. The man remained at large.
Three volcanoes may share same magma pool
A scientific study found evidence that three Washington volcanoes might share the same magma pool.
The study published in the magazine Nature Geoscience said Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams and Mount Rainier could tap the same molten rock up to 20 miles underground.
Other scientists dispute the study and say there is no surface evidence of a giant magma body under the south Washington Cascades.
The two-year study that began in 2006 was conducted by scientists from New Zealand and Australia measuring the electrical conductivity of underground geologic layers. One of the authors, Matt Burgess said it indicates what’s going on underground.
Olympia: State spends half-billion in federal stimulus
Officials say about half a billion dollars in federal stimulus money has been spent so far by the state government.
On Monday, state officials discussed some of the preliminary numbers submitted to the federal government earlier this month to help track stimulus spending. Final numbers won’t be available until Friday, when the federal government reports a major batch of stimulus data.
More than $2 billion has been awarded to state agencies, with more than half a billion spent to date on things like repaving roads, emergency food assistance and clean water projects.
Longview: Teen accused of running down man
Longview police believe a 15-year-old Kelso boy ran down a 28-year-old man in an act of gang violence.
The Daily News of Longview reported police arrested the teen Saturday night for investigation of attempted murder.
Police said the victim and a woman had left a pub early Saturday and entered an alley when occupants of a van shouted something obscene about the color red, identified with a street gang.
The woman said the van turned around and sped at them with its lights off, knocking the man through the air. He was taken to a Portland, Ore., hospital with a broken leg and internal injuries.
Wapato: Mother, son, 2, killed in I-82 crash
A woman and her 2-year-old son were killed in a one-car crash on I-82 near Wapato.
The Washington State Patrol said an SUV driven by 34-year-old Audrey Ulrich of Richland left the highway Sunday afternoon and struck trees. The crash killed little Rafael Ulrich.
The woman was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, and KNDO reported Monday she had died.
The boy’s 67-year-old grandmother was in serious condition at Yakima Memorial Hospital, where the father and a 4-month-old boy are in satisfactory condition.
Yakima: Man shot at Halloween party dies
A man who was shot in the head at a Halloween party in Yakima has died.
The 34-year-old, Jason Baldoz, was hit during a fight early Sunday as several people were kicked out of a Halloween party they tried to crash.
KNDO reported he died Monday from his wounds.
Two other men wounded in the shooting are expected to recover.
Police have arrested a 19-year-old suspect with gang ties.
Oregon: Scientists find cause of quake swarm
Scientists say a group of previously unknown faults was behind an odd swarm of earthquakes last year off the Oregon Coast. But just what set them off remains unknown.
Oregon State University marine geologist Robert Dziak said the discovery about 140 miles off Newport suggests the Juan de Fuca Plate is still actively converging with North America in the Cascadia Subduction Zone.
He adds that they do not know what triggered the quakes, and it is not clear if they represent a normal release of stress within the plate, or something else.
Using a network of underwater microphones, scientists recorded some 1,600 quakes over two months. Most were between magnitude 3.0 and 4.0, but a few exceeded magnitude 5.0.
Roseburg man herding cattle dies in ATV crash
Police said an 81-year-old man died when the all-terrain vehicle he was using to herd cattle near Roseburg struck a fence.
The News-Review newspaper said the victim in Sunday’s crash has been identified as Phillip Telford. He died at the scene.
Klamath Falls pair arrested in pit bull attack
A pit bull attack in Klamath Falls has led to the arrest of a 40-year-old woman and her adult son.
Police said Elizabeth Slaughter and Silbano Pena, 21, have been charged with reckless endangering and maintaining a dangerous dog.
A witness to the Oct. 15 attack said the dog had to be punched several times before it released an 11-year-old boy.
Slaughter and Pena were booked into the Klamath County Jail late last week and were released after posting bail.
The extent of the boy’s injuries has not been divulged, but he spent a couple of days at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland.
From Herald news services
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