MONROE — Everett City Councilman Mark Olson on Thursday said he will abstain from drinking alcohol until October, part of an agreed court order that apparently will end legal wrangling over alleged violations of a deferred prosecution in a 2003 drunken driving case.
Olson also must obtain a new drug and alcohol assessment and follow any of its recommendations.
A Snohomish County deputy prosecutor and a court probation officer recommended Thursday’s outcome.
Olson will be under court supervision until October, the end of the court’s five-year jurisdiction over his case.
A deferred prosecution is available for some first-time offenders in drunken-driving cases. Under deferred prosecutions, defendants avoid jail if they comply with court-ordered conditions. They eventually can have the case dismissed.
After a brief hearing Thursday in Monroe’s Evergreen District Court, Olson said only: “I feel good.”
His attorney, Bill Bowman of Bellevue, said what happened in court Thursday is consistent with the original recommendation of the probation officer in August.
“I wish we could have resolved this then,” Bowman said.
Olson’s alcohol consumption became an issue earlier this year when a search warrant was filed for his downtown Everett law offices. The search came after a woman accused Olson of sexually assaulting her there after an evening of drinking.
A probation officer noted that the drinking happened within the five-year ban that was in place on Olson’s alcohol consumption as part of the 2003 deferred prosecution. The probation officer called the situation to the court’s attention.
No charges have been filed in connection with the assault allegation, which is being reviewed by a Skagit County Prosecuting Attorney Richard Weyrich.
The question of what should be done about Olson’s alleged drinking violation first arose in front of Judge Jay Wisman in Cascade District Court in Arlington. Wisman heard the case and extended the court’s jurisdiction to 2010.
Wisman’s ruling came despite Bowman’s request for the judge to step aside. Olson appealed. Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Cowsert signed an order, presented jointly by Olson’s attorney and prosecutors, holding that Wisman should have stepped aside.
Cowsert sent the case to Judge Patricia Lyon in Monroe, the county’s presiding district court judge. She took the case herself.
Bowman has acknowledged in court that Olson violated the 2003 court order, but maintained Olson did so only after receiving erroneous advice from a former attorney and a counselor. Olson is an attorney. The court order Olson signed in 2003 said he could not drink for five years.
Both Olson’s former lawyer and his counselor filed affidavits with the court saying they told Olson he could resume drinking after two years.
“Neither Mr. Olson nor his attorney reviewed the (court) order at the time this advice was given,” according to the agreement signed in court Thursday by Lyon, Bowman and deputy prosecutor Thomas Curtis.
“I think Mr. Olson got some very bad advice,” Lyon said in court.
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