EVERETT — Veteran lawyer Janice Ellis found herself studying for a bar exam just a few weeks ago.
She’s been an attorney for more than 20 years and for one more day she is the Snohomish County prosecutor.
Ellis is stepping down from the job, a post she’s held for seven years. She recently was hired to be the prosecutor for the Tulalip Tribes.
That meant hitting the books to prepare for the tribal bar exam.
“Thankfully I passed,” Ellis said.
Her new job, she says, will bring her back to a place she loves — inside a courtroom.
“I think it is a tremendous opportunity to get back in the courtroom and get to work in a different system,” Ellis said. “I’m also incredibly glad to stay a part of the community.”
Her employees and supporters said they will miss Ellis’ dedication, hard work and compassion for crime victims.
She inspired them to work harder and pushed them to find answers to tough questions. She challenged them to find better ways to do their jobs and meet the needs of the community.
She fought for money for fax machines and copiers in the office. She started new programs, and then was forced to shut some down when the economy soured.
She also helped find the money to purchase a permanent home for the county’s nationally accredited children’s advocacy center, Dawson Place, that serves abused kids.
“She was exactly what our office needed. She brought credibility to the office. She brought pride to the office from top to bottom,” senior deputy prosecutor Mark Roe said.
Snohomish County Sheriff John Lovick called Ellis a consummate professional who he often turned to for advice.
“You won’t find a better public servant,” the sheriff said of Ellis.
The Snohomish County Council on Monday is expected to swear in chief civil deputy prosecutor Jason Cummings as the acting prosecutor. On Dec. 9 the council plans to select one of three candidates to finish out Ellis’ term, which expires at the end of 2010.
Ellis, 49, graduated from Dartmouth College, where she was the goalie for the women’s ice hockey team. She received her law degree from Northeastern University Law School.
Ellis worked in both the civil and criminal prosecuting attorney offices between 1990 and 1995. She spent five years working as an assistant attorney general, trying civil litigation and representing numerous state agencies.
Former county prosecutor Seth Dawson remembers Ellis as what he called a “blue chip” employee — someone dependable, bright, industrious and energetic.
She brought all of those qualities with her when she returned to run the office, Dawson said.
Ellis became the county’s prosecutor in 2003 after she beat out two-term Republican Jim Krider. She won the support of law enforcement, victim advocates and deputy prosecutors.
She promised stronger leadership and improved working relationships between prosecutors and law enforcement. She ran unopposed in 2006.
“A lot of people worked very hard to get her elected. I have not been disappointed,” deputy prosecutor Kathy Jo Blake said.
She was a considerate boss who took an interest in the professional and personal lives of her staff, Blake said.
“She has set a very high bar for hard work and high ethical standards,” chief criminal deputy prosecutor Joan Cavagnaro said.
She valued everybody in the office and considered them when making management decisions. No one was left out —a welcome change for support staff, Cavagnaro said.
“She’s done a lot of good for the office even during unstable budget years,” veteran deputy prosecutor Ed Stemler said.
Ellis said some of her goals for the office weren’t met because she was forced to repeatedly cut the budget. Even so, she worked to streamline office procedures. She brought in a Boeing employee who volunteered a couple of years ago to analyze the office under “kaizen,” a manufacturing philosophy used by Japanese companies such Toyota. The idea was to go to her employees — the production floor, so to speak — and find ways to improve what was being done, Ellis said.
“I’m a geek,” she admits.
The office used the process to rework how misdemeanor prosecutions were handled in District Court, Ellis said. Deputy prosecutors now get time to review a case before its filed with the court. More citations are sticking and resources aren’t being wasted, Ellis said.
Ellis said being a prosecutor demands more than running a business does.
“It’s an office where you have to understand the nuances of what you do,” she said. “You’re dealing with families. They all have different goals and different relationships. It’s important to reflect the community’s values and priorities. Those change over time too.”
Tough calls
Difficult decisions must be made, Ellis said.
Not soon after she took office, Ellis had to decide whether to seek the death penalty for two of the eight men accused of kidnapping and murdering Rachel Burkheimer, 18, of Marysville.
“We make those decisions like we make any decision. We look at the facts and the conduct and what is a just outcome,” Ellis said.
She decided against seeking the death penalty for John “Diggy” Anderson, the shooter, and John Alan Whitaker. Anderson deserved to have the death penalty put before a jury, Ellis said.
“But I was convinced the focus of the brutal murder of Rachel Burkheimer would become all about the unfortunate upbringing of Diggy Anderson. I did not want to see him become the focus of attention and sympathy,” Ellis said. “I wanted the attention to be how he could be held accountable for the murder. I was not going to allow the case to become a circus.”
The slain girl’s dad, Bill Burkheimer, didn’t agree with the decision, but he understood why Ellis did what she did.
“We felt like we were part of the decision process,” Burkheimer said. “She is a compassionate victim advocate, no doubt about it.”
Ellis was there for every verdict in the cases, Burkheimer remembers.
“She stayed out of the spotlight though. She let (then-deputy prosecutor) Michael Downes and the detectives do their jobs,” he said. “She wasn’t there for a photo opportunity and didn’t use it for political gain. I respect her immensely for that.”
A couple of years later, Ellis made another tough call.
She decided not to ask for a second trial that could have reinstated the death penalty for child-killer Richard Clark.
Clark in 1995 lured 7-year-old Roxanne Doll from her south Everett home, raped her and killed her. Ellis was ready to go forward with a new trial but struck a deal with Clark at the request of Roxanne’s family. They wanted the legal battle to end.
Clark in 2006 admitted that he alone was responsible for the girl’s death. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Ellis’ eyes welled with tears when she talked about the Clark case. He deserved the death penalty, she said, but justice was more complex.
“Part of being a victim-centered office is listening to the victims and survivors,” Ellis said. “The family needed it to stop, to know what really happened. The family couldn’t have Roxanne back but at least they have the truth. He is gone and forgotten in prison.”
Ellis was dedicated to taking care of victims, said Heidi Potter, the lead victim-witness advocate for the office.
It was her idea to bring a service dog to the office for victims and their families, Potter said. Stilson, a black Labrador, comforts and calms victims and witnesses during stressful court proceedings. The office was only the second in the nation to use a service dog, Potter said.
“She considers victims’ resources a priority, not a luxury,” Potter said.
Ellis believes that victims and their families should be treated with dignity and respect, and their constitutional rights should be protected, said Jenny Wieland-Ward, executive director of Family and Friends of Violent Crime Victims.
“She has been an incredible leader for Snohomish County and the prosecutor’s office,” Wieland-Ward said.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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