EVERETT — Former Snohomish County deputy prosecutor David Metcalf knew he was in trouble in the late 1960s when he first went up against then- defense attorney Bill Baker.
The judge presiding over the trial in Everett asked if potential jurors knew anybody associated with the case. Several hands shot up.
A lot of them knew Baker, including one man who had been Baker’s Boy Scout leader.
Metcalf was raised in Seattle; Baker in Everett.
Baker clearly had a home-court advantage to accompany his winning way with jurors. As Metcalf recalls, Baker won that case.
It was the start of a career in which Baker carved out a sizable and well-respected niche as a lawyer in civil practice before he vaulted to the state Court of Appeals 18 years ago.
Now, faced with some uncertainty about his health, Baker has stepped down from the court. He officially retired Friday.
Gov. Chris Gregoire has appointed J. Robert Leach, another Everett lawyer, to follow Baker.
Baker, 67, said his retirement from the bench doesn’t mean he’s going to retire in life.
He plans to become more active in community events in the Everett area, and is considering participation in a group that emphasizes the independence of the judiciary. Judicial independence is an issue close to Baker’s heart.
“I really do think the law and legal system are the essential part of a civilized society,” Baker said in an interview. “The law is the glue.”
Baker’s love for the law and his desire to keep it independent caught up to Metcalf in more recent years.
Metcalf remembers the one time he took a case to the Court of Appeals and had Baker on the three-judge panel. The question was whether a criminal defendant got a speedy trial under the law.
Again, Metcalf lost, and it was Baker who wrote the decision.
Friends for years, Metcalf said he often talked about that decision in friendly chats.
“I tried to explain to him why he was wrong, but of course he wouldn’t listen,” said Metcalf, who for years was the county’s chief criminal deputy prosecutor.
Leach, a partner in Everett’s Anderson Hunter law firm, acknowledges that he has huge shoes to fill because Baker “has done a very good job. He’s well regarded and has been a superb judge.” Leach said.
“I admired him as a lawyer and a judge,” Leach said. “He’s a very skilled lawyer with good courtroom demeanor, a master of the facts and he makes a good impression on the jury.”
Some of Baker’s friends think that the man always wanted to be a lawyer. Baker said that’s not so.
He did his undergraduate studies at Stanford University, majoring in political science.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to be,” he said. “I wanted to be educated.”
At the beginning of his senior year, he recalls the awakening that convinced him to study the law.
He encountered law students gathering to debate the law and talk about legal principles.
“I used to sit like a little kid at the edge of the campfire listening to the law,” Baker said. He decided that “this would be a career I could relish.”
He read legal opinions “and I became real excited about the law as an institution,” Baker said. He and his wife, Judy Baker, later returned to the Seattle area where he attended the University of Washington Law School.
He demonstrated his respect for the law in the early 1980s. Baker was an initial member of the newly created state Judicial Conduct Commission, which looks into complaints against judges.
“It’s an issue I care deeply about,” Baker said.
Although he has shown no symptoms, Baker has been diagnosed with leukemia, and expects that he will have to undergo a stem-cell transplant sometime in the next few years. He deliberately quit during his term to allow the governor a chance to name his replacement.
He firmly believes that judges should be appointed, at least at the outset of their careers on the bench. Later, let the voters decide if the appointment was a good one or not, he said.
He intends to be part of a watchdog group that keeps an eye on judicial elections to encourage emphasis on qualifications instead of big money and the goals of special interest groups.
Huge sums were poured into the 2006 state Supreme Court races by special interests, sparking interest in creating the group, Baker said.
His success in the court stems not only from his reasoned decisions and balance, but also his experience at the trial level, said Snohomish County Superior Court Judge James Allendoerfer.
Baker and Allendoerfer switched jobs for two months in the 1990s. Allendoerfer learned that he missed routine contact with attorneys in the courtroom, and he didn’t want to become an appeals court judge.
Baker was able to successfully make the transition to judge because of his vast trial experience “and he was able to understand the decisions trial judges must make very quickly,” Allendoerfer said.
While his reputation on the bench is sterling, Baker also gets top marks as a human being.
Arlington attorney Richard Bailey used to fish and backpack with Baker.
“Baker is the only friend I have that I would characterize as altogether decent all the time,” Bailey said. “He is a quality guy from start to finish.”
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or jhaley@heraldnet.com.
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