Why did judge release killer on promise to appear?

I find in incredible that Superior Court Judge Karen Moore was naive enough to let a convicted murderer be released with the promise that he would show up for prison five days later (“When killer skipped prison date, family’s mourning turned to fear,” The Herald, Nov. 26). (The convicted man was apprehended by U.S. Marshals two days after failing to report to prison.)

Do we really need such an inexperienced lawyer to be appointed to the bench? What she did, in my opinion, was the height of stupidity. I thought the deputy prosecutor was being polite by saying it was “not typical.” It was a flagrant violation of common sense and indeed shatters the trust of law abiding citizens.

William Berst

Snohomish

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