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If you work in the field of criminal justice, it is hard to look at the prosecution of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito as anything but an injustice.  As a former prosecutor, that was my experience blogging about the subject last year.  (See earlier posts here, here, here, here, and here.)  But now, other criminal justice professionals are joining the chorus of Americans concerned about the fairness of the trial of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito.  Case in point Steve Moore, retired F.B.I. agent.   Moore has 25 years investigating some of the most serious crimes imaginable for the F.B.I.  Steve Moore was not connected at all with the Knox supporters, but he found it hard to be silent after he took a look at Amanda’s case.   Steve Moore’s statement about the case is online at the blog Injustice in Perugia.  Check out the below media interview in which he is interviewed on MSNBC.

I like his point that this crime does not fit Amanda Knox’s character.

MSNBC: You also made the point that this crime does not fit Amanda Knox’s personality profile.

Steve Moore: Amanda Knox is not a violent person. The problem with this is if a person is violent enough…. What they are alleging is that she [Amanda Knox] came in on her roommate who was being sexually assaulted and sided with the assaulter, and not only helped him assault her roommate, but stabbed her in the throat. That kind of deviant violent behavior does not go unnoticed for 18, 19, 20 years. Some things leak out. You see some episodes. You see some indications that the person has some issues. Amanda Knox never had an issue.

As a former prosecutor, that is one of the problems I have never understood, what motive would Amanda Knox have to stab her roommate to death?  A violent stabbing is just not an “entry-level” crime.  A person works their way up to such an offense with a long history of other crimes such as assaults and threats to kill.  The prosecutor Giuliano Mignini just was never able to establish a credible motive for why an average American  college student would rape and murder her roommate.

I noticed this summer that there was a three-way Clerk’s race this summer in Okanogan County:   Charleen Groomes, Cindy Gagne, and Rae Jean Kelley.   Normally clerk’s races are pretty low-key events, and often times the clerks is uncontested.  The out-going clerk, Jackie Bradley, had served in that position for 38 years.  I don’t recall her ever being contested.  (But then again I wasn’t practicing law and blogging back in the 70’s; I was learning how to read and ride a bike.)  Since I didn’t know any of the three candidates, I fired off an email to all three complaining how the current clerk had overcharged me once.  I wrote:

Dear _______,

I was wondering how you felt as a clerk candidate about certain charges to the public.  I once went to the clerks window to look at a file, and i asked for copies made.  The copies were just of an exhibit attached to a declaration.  I did not want the whole filing, the declaration itself, or the other attachments.  However, the person at the window  said if i wanted part of it, i would have to get all of it, and would have to pay to have the whole filing copied.  This didn’t seem right tome, and i was not able to find any other clerk’s office across the state that had a similar policy.  I called to complain to Jackie Bradley and she basically just said “too bad” that is our policy. Isn’t that just a waste of paper, and doesn’t that just result in an over-charge to the public[?]  (Note, that the request was not for a certified copy.)  What do you think about this?  Would you continue the same policy regarding copy costs?  I am just curious.  Thanks.
–Steve

I wasn’t sure what sort of response I would get, but I received thoughtful responses from all three candidates.  Rae Jean Kelley asked around at some other Clerk’s offices and confirmed that the neighboring clerks did not charge for those unnecessary copies.  She indicated that my suggested way of handling the matter could be done, but that she would reserve the right to make the determination depending on the document copy requested.  Charlene Groomes didn’t seem to agree with the current policy either, and indicated that she would review such policies if elected.  The candidate Cindy Gagne seemed like she was the most ardent supporter of the change of these fees.  However, she was beaten in the primary.  Wanna learn more about the clerk candidate Charleen Groomes or Rae Jean Kelley?  Check out their Facebook campaign sites here and here. They both are republicans.

The Star – Online broke a news story earlier this month about a local bar owner who announced his plan to have topless dancers at his establishment in Grand Coulee.  See story.  Ted Wolf, the owner of Wolf’s Den Tavern, apparently announced his intentions at a city council meeting.  The city’s police chief reviewed the city code, and apparently did not find any prohibition on such an activity.  The news story explains the regulations that one would face would come from the State Liquor Control Board.  Under the law, if it weren’t for the Tavern’s liquor license, the government would be limited in its ability to restrict such topless dancing.   The Washington Supreme Court has ruled that the expression of a nude dancer receives constitutional protection.  See Kitsap County v. Kev Inc. (1986).  Courts consider nude dancing “low value” speech, but nevertheless speech that is protected by the first amendment.  In Erznozick v. City of Jacksonville (1975) the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that entertainment involving nudity cannot be banned.   However, the U.S. Supreme Court also ruled that States may prohibit sexually explicit live entertainment in places where alcohol is served because states are vested with the power to regulate alcohol under the 21st Amendment.  New York State Liquor Authority v. Bellanca (1981).   In Washington, the State does allow topless dancing at bars provided that the dancers are compensated and remain on a stage 6 feet away from patrons.  See WAC 314-11-050.  These sort of performances are not typically very lucrative for the licensees, and as reported by The Star, only one such topless bar exists in Eastern Washington.    Most nude dancing occurs in establishments that only serve soft drinks.  In some of those alcohol-free establishments, it is pretty much anything goes if you believe the frequent news reports of west-side newspapers.  However, local governments are able to prevent dancer-on-patron contact with local regulations.   For example the city of Bellevue prohibits fully nude dancers from coming within 4 feet of patrons, requires stages to be well-lit, and requires that the “adult cabarets” close by 2 a.m.  The State Supreme Court found Bellevue’s ordinance to be constitutional in the case of Ino Ino, Inc. v. Bellevue (1993).  In that case, the court rejected the argument of the dancers that the lighting and proximity restrictions interfered with their freedom of expression.   In this country, dancing involving nudity is subject to what we call “time, place, and manner” restrictions.   Oftentimes, local officials attempt to restrict the dancing so much that clubs simply give up and move to other locales.  Such intent on the part of city officials is hard to prove, and State Supreme Court has explained that “a court should not strike down an otherwise constitutional statute on the assumption that the legislative body had a wrongful purpose.”  See Ino Ino, Inc. v. Bellevue.  Additionally, courts have upheld local zoning ordinances that prohibit “adult” establishments within 1000 feet of a church, park, school, or even a residence.  Such was the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Renton v. Playtime Theaters (1986), a case that originated in Renton, Washington.  These strict regulations were found to be justifiable due to the “secondary effects” of adult entertainment, meaning the crime and prostitution and drug use that often is associated with these clubs.  I am not sure that merely providing topless dancers would justify such stringent regulation.  Adult bookstores and “lap-dance” clubs, particularly when concentrated in certain areas, are bound to have more problems then a single tavern providing dancing only on Friday and Saturday nights.   Additionally, many local governments do not have any nudity-restrictions at all when it come to the female breast.   It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  The city of Grand Coulee is attempting to change their ordinances right now to stop Ted Wolf from allowing topless dancing at his Wolf’s Den Tavern.

What do you think?  Should Grand Coulee take active steps to try to prevent such dancing within city limits?

I received a letter in the mail last week from Cindy Zapotocky, Chairman of the Spokane County Republican Party.

Laurell Siddoway

The letter was addressed “Dear friends of liberty and freedom.” The letter urges me to donate money to Harvey Dunham in his challenge of incumbant judge Laurel Siddoway for Division Three of the Court of Appeals. The letter warns of Laurel Siddoway’s ties to the ACLU as if that were some sort of seditious organization. (Reading through the letter, it was clear that I got on this mailing list because I once donated money to a Republican that is supporting Harvey Dunham.) Laurel Siddoway’s ties to the ACLU seem to be what really motivates Harvey Dunham’s supporters. I saw a letter to the editor in the Spokesman-Review last week that makes this omninous warning about Siddoway:

[She] supports the American Civil Liberties Union. Voters should learn that Roger Baldwin was a founder of the American Civil Liberties Union and he was an original officer, along with such notables of Communist Party history as Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Louis Budenz and William Z Foster. Baldwin’s continuous radical career and cooperation with Communists and anarchists and socialists is of more than 50 years duration.

This letter seemed a little goofy, but Harvey Dunham actually puts a link to this letter on his website as if it were a notable endorsement. See site. In rural eastern Washington, implying that someone was a communist because he or she is affiliated with ACLU is a time honored smear tactic. Locals did that to John Goldmark when he ran for State Legislature in the 1960s and Goldmark ended up suing his opponents for libel and winning. See source. To me, this tactic of the Harvey Dunham supporters seems really desperate.

Harvey Dunham

Also, why is Harvey Dunham implying that he is running against Siddoway because she is too liberal?  Two years ago he ran against conservative Kevin Korsmo, and I am sure career prosecutor Kevin Korsmo was not a member of the ACLU.  I just don’t think Harvey Dunham is that qualified to be a court of appeals judge.  He really hasn’t done a whole lot to set himself apart as a lawyer, and has chose not to participate in polls of the bar association members.  I have joined many Republicans in supporting conservative judges Richard Sanders and Jim Johnson but I can’t really get excited about Harvey Dunham due to his lack of credentials.   Laurel Siddoway has been rated “Well Qualified” by the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.   Her website is here.