SEATTLE — A woman who was charged twice with child sex crimes in Pierce County and twice had those charges dismissed filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday against the county prosecuting attorney and one of his deputies.
The lawsuit filed by Lynn Dalsing claims Mark Lindquist directed Deputy Jared Ausserer to maliciously prosecute her in 2010 based on false allegations and deceptive information. She claims his office charged her a second time in 2013 as retaliation for her success in a different civil lawsuit. The Superior Court judge who dismissed those charges on May 28 called it a case of “prosecutorial vindictiveness.”
The lawsuit also names Pierce County, saying it is liable for Lindquist’s actions.
Lynn Dalsing’s husband was convicted in 2011 on a child rape charge. Lynn Dalsing was charged with child molestation based on a photograph that prosecutors said showed her on a bed with her daughter. A sheriff’s deputy later testified that the photo was not Dalsing, but was from a pornographic series that was circulating on the internet.
Richard Jolley, a lawyer representing Lindquist, Ausserer and the county, dismissed the allegation that Lindquist or others filed charged against Dalsing because of her lawsuit.
“There is no factual support for this baseless claim or anything else alleged in this frivolous lawsuit. The county looks forward to a full airing of the facts at trial as we are confident we will win,” Jolley said in a statement. “The evidence will show that Lynn Dalsing was responsible, in part, for the multiple rapes of three young girls by her husband Michael.”
Dalsing has not been charged or convicted of sexual abuse.
Heather Songer, spokeswoman for the prosecuting attorney’s office, said they appealed the judge’s May 28 order dismissing the charges on June 29.
According to the lawsuit, Detective Mike Ames had sent an email saying Dalsing could not be identified in the photo, but the prosecutor’s office withheld that email from her defense team.
After the 2010 charges were dismissed, Dalsing filed a civil lawsuit against Pierce County in 2012, claiming it was a false arrest. As part of that case, her lawyer questioned Ames and learned about the email, the suit said.
In April 2013, a King County Superior Court judge ordered Pierce County to disclose emails that had not been released before Ames gave his statement. Three days later, Ausserer re-opened the criminal investigation against Dalsing, the suit said. Pierce County appealed, but in March 2014, a three-judge panel upheld an appellate court commissioner’s ruling denying a review of that King County judge’s order.
On March 28, 2014, prosecutors filed new charges. Based on the timing, Dalsing said it was retaliation.
The new federal lawsuit claims that Lindquist and Ausserer violated Dalsing’s constitutional rights through a “vindictive and malicious prosecution.”
Dalsing is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
The Dalsing situation was included in a whistleblower and Washington Bar Association complaint filed against Lindquist. It’s also named in a Lindquist recall petition.
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