Earlier this year we said those responsible for King County’s high and increasing crime rate would be held accountable.

This week’s presents another opportunity.

Seattle Times editorial board member Alex Fryer recently penned a column highlighting the process by which violent offenders are either released or held on bail.

If you don’t have high blood pressure already, you likely will when you finish reading the anecdote from his column below:

Last March, Federal Way police responded to an altercation in an apartment parking lot involving a man pointing a loaded gun. They arrested the suspect, searched his car, and found multiple handguns and narcotics in the rear seats, where three children had been riding. The man told cops he had been released from federal prison just days prior.

At Blake Kirvin’s first appearance hearing, King County prosecutors asked for $100,000 bail. Besides Kirvin posing a danger to the community, they argued that he was unlikely to return to court if released because of his nine warrants since 2009.

A King County District Court temporary judge released him with only his promise he would come back to court. Kirvin was picked up hours later by U.S. Marshalls on a federal probation violation.

Fryer argues that these initial court appearances for serious charges should be moved from the District Court to Superior Court, which is where more severe felonies are prosecuted.

It’s an idea worth discussing.

But the problem goes much deeper, and many of the people clamoring for solutions are the ones truly responsible.

Make Your Voice Heard!

Contact the King County Prosecutor’s Office at 206-477-1200, and demand they push harder against lenient judges!

As the quoted sections of Fryer’s article make clear, a judge released a dangerous suspect with a rap sheet longer than the Burke-Gilman Trail, who was immediately arrested by federal authorities. Passing the buck to another court doesn’t fix the real issue: judges that won’t keep dangerous suspects locked up when all the evidence indicates they’re going to commit more crimes if released.

Fryer writes:

A complicating factor: District Court judges are much less likely to have experience with serious charges and the crucial calculation of risk to the public if a defendant is released. With 25 judges, District Court often relies on 37 pro tempore (“for the time being”) judges — unelected fill-ins — to run these felony first appearance hearings, such as the one with Kirvin.

Maybe we’re missing something, but how much experience do you have to have with “serious charges” to correctly deduce that a serial offender caught with narcotics and guns should NOT be released on their own recognizance? You don’t have to be smart to know this, you have to be out-of-touch with the real world to not know this – or worse, be ideologically driven.

Evidence suggests the latter is often the cause. A judge recently refused to press charges or initially cooperate with police after he was attacked outside the Seattle downtown county court house. One can only speculate on the specific reasons, but it’s undeniable that the current legal system treats suspects as the real victims. King County Superior Court Judge Patrick Oishi has previously told the media, “the presumption is to release” rather than keep suspects held with bail. King County judges have also been instructed in judicial training sessions conducted by outside activists to rule against prosecutors in order to make them appeal. The effect of that is to overwhelm prosecutors who are unable to appeal every decision made. 

Speaking of prosecutors, here is another part of the problems. While in the case of Kirvin, King County prosecutors asked for $100,000 bail, but how hard did they press the judge on the decision to release? How hard do they push when it comes to other dangerous felons?

During court hearings prosecutors not only request bail or charges, the judge also gives them the opportunity to make their case for why.

Too many times, they don’t speak up.

How often does the prosecutor’s office reach out to the victims of serious crimes when it decides to do a plea agreement or reduced charges? It matters, because only an estimated 20-30 percent of cases in King County actually go to trial, which means the overwhelming number of them are pled down.

In a recent interview with KIRO radio, Federal Way Mayor Jim Farrell said “the criminal justice system (in King County) at some point got turned around where we became so focused on course-correcting defendants that they became the source of the focus. The people that need to be the focus of the issue are the victims and making sure that justice is done.” Farrell is a candidate for King County prosecutor in the November election, as Dan Satterberg is not running for reelection.

One of the more alarming crime rate increases in Seattle between 2021-2020 was robbery, which unlike burglary is when the victim is inside the residence or building in question. According to the city robberies increased from 1,487 in 2020 to 1,752 in 2021, an 18 percent increase. How many criminals guilty of first-degree robbery had their charges reduced by the King County Prosecutor’s Office? How are those cases being resolved in a way that will reduce them in the future and keep the guilty behind bars?

There’s plenty of blame to lay at the feet of judges who let criminals loose on the street, but the county prosecutor’s office needs to fulfill its duty to both crime victims and the public at large by not “phoning it in” when making its case in court. Or worse, sharing a “criminal is the true victim” mindset that seems to be plaguing much of the criminal justice system today.

Contact the King County Prosecutor’s Office at 206-477-1200, and demand they push harder against lenient judges!