Michael Haas Under Investigation: Hiding the Truth from Voters

by | Oct 19, 2018 | Politics

Michael Haas is under investigation and trying to run out the clock before voters can learn about it.

The Jefferson County Prosecutor has been facing an ethics investigation by the Washington State Bar Association. We previously reported that the investigation centers on actions by Haas to use the powers of his office to favor a former private practice client and to obstruct the prosecution of a relative facing criminal charges.  We have learned that our local newspapers have known about the investigation.  But only the Port Townsend Free Press has reported that the chief prosecutor of Jefferson County is facing significant ethics charges.

In one of the complaints, Haas is alleged to have ordered a prosecutor to dismiss charges against a relative.  That prosecutor refused.  Haas then intervened to dismiss the charges himself. This is a very serious charge, if true.

The bar association’s disciplinary counsel is charged with policing unethical conduct by lawyers, including those in public office.  If the charges are sustained, Haas could face a range of discipline from fines and supervision to suspension of his license to disbarment.  Referrals for criminal prosecution are also possible if the facts warrant.

We filed a public records request on September 3 for any public documents showing Haas to be under investigation.  It was a narrow request, limited by time and subject matter.  But Haas has delayed providing the responsive documents, thus denying voters information they should have in making the decision whether he deserves another term in office.

After several delays excused by a boiler plate claimed need for additional time, we were informed of yet another delay. This time the excuse was that a special prosecutor had been appointed to review our request.  Then on October 17 we were informed of yet another delay.

The latest excuse was to give individuals named in the public records the opportunity to file any objections in the Jefferson County Superior Court to release of public records. No further information would be provided until October 31, at the earliest.

That is a mere week before the close of voting, and well after many voters have cast their ballots by mail.  

While bar association investigations normally occur away from the public’s scrutiny until a ruling is made, in this case the issue concerns apparent abuses of the powers of the prosecutor’s office by the incumbent Haas.  Instead of hiding the ball from voters until the clock runs out, Haas, who has pledged transparency, could have revealed long ago that he was under investigation and stated his defense to the charges.

Haas has not answered our questions about whether he is under investigation and why.  But our independent inquiries have answered those questions and provided what information we can obtain at this point.

Under a Washington Supreme Court rule, the investigation has been put on hold but will resume after the election. 

If any other efforts are made to conceal information in public documents, Port Townsend Free Press will be in court fighting for the public’s right to know what their elected officials are doing with the powers and authority granted them by voters. Unfortunately, that will mean taxpayers footing the legal bill to keep voters less than fully informed. 

Our earlier report:  Michael Haas Faces Bar Association Investigation

 

  

Jefferson County Prosecutor Haas Faces Bar Association Investigation

Jefferson County Prosecutor Haas Faces Bar Association Investigation

by | Oct 6, 2018 | Politics

Jefferson County Prosecutor Michael Haas is under investigation by the Washington State Bar Association for two ethics violations alleged to have occurred during his term in office.

On September 1, 2018 we filed a public records request for documents containing information about Mr. Haas being the subject of any investigation by the Washington State Bar Association.  The response to the request was delayed with the explanation that additional time was required to consider whether any exemption would permit documents to be withheld. That request is still open.

The response indicates that (1) Mr. Haas’ office does have documents covered by the request and (2) he is under investigation.  Otherwise, we would have been informed that no documents exist responsive to the request.

We have learned independently that our deduction is correct: Michael Haas is in fact under investigation.  

That investigation concerns two charges of conflict of interest.  We have not obtained this information from the party or parties filing the complaints, but from another source that has been consistently reliable on other matters and is well-placed to know these facts. 

In one case, Mr. Haas, who was a defense lawyer in private practice, is alleged to have continued to represent a criminal defendant after his election up until the time he was sworn in. Once in office he continued to negotiate with the new defense counsel and instructed a prosecutor to sign an agreed order remanding the case to District Court so that defendant, his former client, could get a new sentence.

In the other case, he is alleged to have had a conflict of interest in the prosecution by his office of a relative, in which Mr. Haas ordered a prosecutor to dismiss the case, then dismissed it himself against the judgment of that prosecutor.

Both those matters—though not the existence of the bar association investigation—were previously known to the Port Townsend Free Press.  We had learned of them roughly about the time we began our investigation of Mr. Haas’ handling of the McAllister rape case, which we reported in a four-part series that can be read in sequence at this link.

These conflicts of interest are alleged to violate the following provisions of the Rule of Professional Conduct:

RPC 1.11 SPECIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST FOR FORMER AND CURRENT GOVERNMENT OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES

(a) Except as law may otherwise expressly permit, a lawyer who has formerly served as a public officer or employee of the government: (2) shall not otherwise represent a client in connection with a matter in which the lawyer participated personally and substantially as a public officer or employee, unless the appropriate government agency gives its informed consent, confirmed in writing, to the representation.

 RPC 1.16 DECLINING OR TERMINATING REPRESENTATION

Comment [1] “A lawyer should not accept representation in a matter unless it can be performed competently, promptly, without improper conflict of interest and to completion.” 

We asked Mr. Haas if would confirm or deny that he is under investigation, and, if he is under investigation, to explain why.  He has not responded to our request.

We learned today that the investigation has been temporarily suspended until after the election.  This is pursuant to a rule of the Washington Supreme Court.  The investigation will resume after November 6.

On a related note, in the Jefferson County Bar Association poll of the judges and lawyers who know and work with Mr. Hass in the courthouse, he scored extremely poorly on the question of integrity.  As we previously reported, only 27% of his professional peers rated him “acceptable”; 53% found him lacking in integrity.

We now know for certain that public documents contain information about Mr. Haas’ investigation by the Washington State Bar Association.  Our reporting on this matter will resume after the release of those documents.

Related:  Mr. Haas has also faced two Public Disclosure Commission complaints in recent months.

PDC Closes Complaint Against Prosecutor Haas with Reminder Not to Break the Law

Haas Faces Second Complaint

[This report has been edited to correct typographical and style errors]  

Tweek Watch Olympic Peninsula: Facebook Crime Fighters

Tweek Watch Olympic Peninsula: Facebook Crime Fighters

by | Sep 24, 2018 | General

A game camera is triggered by motion at 3 a.m.  A black Dodge pickup truck is photographed leaving a meth compound in Sequim.  The pic goes up on the Facebook page of Tweek Watch Olympic Peninsula where it is seen by over 2,500 people.

This truck and unidentified driver was caught leaving a major meth compound in Sequim at 3am on our game cam. If this truck is near your property they are likely on the prowl. The people living at the compound are involved in a major drug – theft syndicate in Clallam County! Beware!

Someone comments there are three identical trucks in Sequim.  Possibilities are narrowed down.  The truck is spotted at Lincoln Park in Port Angeles. It doesn’t take long to rule that one out.  Someone wants to know where the meth compound is located and the page administrator provides not only the intersection but a photo.   People weigh in.  They’ve seen the traffic and stolen property collected out there. But who owns this particular truck? Suggestions pour in, are  evaluated.  Finally, the community settled on the meth truck being regularly seen outside a particular tattoo stop.

Virtual vigilantes?  One commenter says “Call the cops…Starting vigilante sh#t could get you killed.”

The discussion rolls on, undeterred.

A “tweeker,” if you didn’t know, is a meth addict.  The term frequently encompasses heroin and other drug addicts, as it does in the case of this Facebook page.

We could not find out who runs Tweek Watch.  We were in communication with the administrator who initially agreed to answer questions but then the dialogue stopped.  We succeeded in locating people who know the identity of the administrator.  They say this person does not want to be publicly identified because of the potential for retaliation from users and dealers.

We understand.  Who would want to be outed for standing up to the crime associated with meth and heroin addiction on the Olympic Peninsula?  In one post the administrator stated that the tweekers had already found the site.  “Ban button wearing thin! Have a nice weekend was the response,” along with an expletive thrown at the tweekers who might be reading his post.

While readers of The Port Townsend Leader objected to naming arrestees in police reports, and the editor capitulated, the Tweek Watch community delights in posting photos and names of people they believe are engaged in criminal activity.  They post photos of RVs engaged in allegedly selling drugs on Port Angeles streets.  Someone posted having just seen a drug deal on Frost Road at the PUD gate. Photographs of persons accused of theft by a member of the community are posted, with full names.  Photos of recently stolen vehicles are posted with a request to speak up if they are seen. A Port Townsend man posts a photo with the message, “If you see this car in the hood, you are about to get robbed. PM me for details.”

Stash of hypodermic needles with location posted on Tweek Watch

We started watching this site months ago and have seen its following grow steadily.  What does law enforcement think?  We asked a Jefferson County deputy who hadn’t know about the site.  He thought it was a great idea and joined the page. Police are reading the comments.  They are part of the community.

Tweek Watch posted this on its “About” page:  “Meth and heroin thieves are victimizing too many good people on the Peninsula! It’s time to fight back! This page is to shed light on the tweeks.”

Not fearful of being sued, Tweek Watch also posts photos very clearly identifying homes and commercial properties as places where drugs are sold and used, or where tweekers reside and gather.  The administrator uses far saltier language to describe the locations and people there.

Some of the posts are followed with news that the wanted person had been arrested.  Police have raided some of the locations.  There’s no way of knowing if pressure from Tweek Watch motivated and informed police, or if information from police found its way to the site.

One thing is clear:  The Tweek Watch community knows quite a few of the miscreants and dodgy properties.  The anger about the situation is obvious, as is the determination to do precisely what the site set out to do:  fight back by dragging this activity and these people into the light.

This is not the only social media crime fighting effort.  In Seattle, the Next Door social media site has increasingly been used to share information about dangerous and criminal transients.  It has been reported to us that the Next Door network in Port Townsend is also engaging in rapid responses to drug crimes.

“When seconds count, the police are only minutes away,” the saying goes.  On-line crime fighting can bring the speed and sweep of the Internet to the battle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teen Marijuana Use in Jefferson County: A Growing Problem Needing An Aggressive County Commission

by | Sep 17, 2018 | General

Jefferson County has a real problem with teens using marijuana.

 Marijuana use among our kids, starting in the sixth grade, is significantly worse than the rest of the state.

 Marijuana use by teens, medical experts agree, damages brain development and can lead to memory loss, diminished verbal ability and learning and performance difficulties. 

 Most teens who enter drug treatment report their primary problem is marijuana abuse.  Teenage use greatly increases the risk of addiction.

 Marijuana use by teens can lead to more severe anxiety and depression, or the onset of those psychological problems.

 Does anybody care?  There has been less attention paid by our local newspapers to this serious problem than stories about Port Townsend’s deer.

 We learned about these alarming statistics from the 2016 Washington State Healthy Youth Survey in connection with reporting on the prospect of a marijuana retailer, Greg Brotherton, being elected to the County Commission.  In that position, he would have power over public efforts to fight teen marijuana use and educate consumers about its harmful effects.  We return to coverage of that looming conflict of interest in a future article.

 Our report about Brotherton highlighted marijuana’s adverse physical and health risks and drew some of the most vitriolic reader responses to anything we have written.  Repeating facts about marijuana’s dangers, such as increasing the risk of testicular cancer by 250% or more than doubling a pregnant woman’s chances of giving birth to a dead baby, or that marijuana smoke contains more carcinogens and tar than cigarette smoke…look out.

 Fact-resistant worship of marijuana is making things worse for our kids.

 According to that Healthy Youth Survey, more than half of our teens think regular use has no harmful effects.  A good deal of this ignorance is attributable to the perception that adults don’t see anything wrong with marijuana use. 

 Perception of harm is decreasing even as scientific evidence establishes more physical and mental health problems related to marijuana use, especially with the more potent varieties finding their way to teens.  Today’s dope is nothing like what sent the Grateful Dead on mellow (and boring) hour-long versions of “Truckin’.”  Today’s genetically and chemically manipulated THC-soaked pot is green crack.  Yet this Franken-weed is being marketed as “organic and gentle.”

 Back to the scary statistics.

 Sixty-eight percent of teens report marijuana is easy to obtain.  The black market is all but gone. This means that teens are using marijuana coming out of retail shops.

 Seventy-eight percent of teens who use marijuana smoke it, a statistic comparable with adult use. There is no safe way to smoke marijuana, any more than there is a safe way to smoke cigarettes.

 More kids in Jefferson County drive stoned or in a vehicle driven by someone who is stoned than kids statewide.

 Teen marijuana use was declining markedly until 2010, started rising and has since stayed at about 32% of Jefferson County teens. 

 Legalization has made the problem worse with the marketing of marijuana promoting its use and acceptance and pooh-poohing its dangers.  The Chimacum Prevention Coalition has recognized this, as there are two marijuana retailers just down the road from the high school.  Marijuana retailers spending their advertising budgets to remove the stigma of marijuana use are not helping young people make the right decision.

 Instead of accepting worsening trends, we could be leveraging legalization to fight teen use and better educate the public so that the perception-of-risk trend line turns around.  We could fight marijuana use as we have fought cigarette use, by advancing facts that justify stigma and ridicule.

 The pot shop could become a classroom about the dangers of marijuana, if our county commissioners would take decisive action.

 The state law legalizing recreational marijuana empowered local governments to require more consumer information than the state mandated, which mentions health risks but glosses over specifics.  Just like Big Tobacco lobbyists blocked consumer education, pot’s lobbyists in Olympia have also been busy.

 Our county commissioners could require signs prominently displayed in every retail outlet and the distribution of printed material before every purchase providing the following information that comes through the county’s Public Health Department website (all hyperlinked in our previous Brotherton report).  After all, if the information is important enough to be made available by the county, why not make sure the intended audience gets it? 

-Marijuana is addictive.

-Marijuana can damage brain development, from babies absorbing THC through their mother’s placenta or breast milk to anyone up to age 25.  It can cause long term damage and a permanent drop in IQ and loss of verbal ability and memory.

-Pregnant women who use marijuana have 2.3 times greater incidence of still birth.  Marijuana-exposed children are more likely to show gaps in problem-solving skills, memory and the ability to remain attentive. Parental marijuana use is associated with a greater likelihood of using marijuana at an early age.

-Marijuana smoke contains carcinogenic combustion products, including about 50 percent more benzoprene and 75 percent more benzanthracene (and more phenols, vinyl chlorides, nitrosamines, reactive oxygen species) than cigarette smoke. Marijuana smoking leads to four times the deposition of tar compared to cigarette smoking.

-Marijuana smoking is associated with large airway inflammation, increased airway resistance, and lung hyperinflation.

-Marijuana use has been linked to increased psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety and substance abuse disorders.  It is particularly dangerous for individuals with a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia and psychosis.  The high THC content of today’s marijuana products increases the risks of psychiatric problems.

-Marijuana’s negative effects on attention, memory, and learning can last for days or weeks. A daily user may be functioning at a reduced intellectual level most or all the time.

-Chronic use can lead to Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome—a condition marked by recurrent bouts of severe nausea, vomiting, and dehydration.

And don’t forget that cringe-worthy fact about marijuana use by young men increasing their risk of testicular cancer by 250%.

We have a real problem with teen use of marijuana. But with a marijuana retailer likely winning the open seat on the county commission, and the other two commissioners supporting his candidacy, what are the chances they will aggressively use their lawful powers to help our kids?

Related:  Marijuana Facts for Teens from National Institute on Drug Abuse

Two Million Teens Vaping Marijuana, Survey Finds

Spike in Marijuana Overdoses Blamed on Potent Edibles, Poor Public Education

America’s Invisible Pot Addicts

What You Need to Know About Marijuana Use in Teens

Marijuana Addition is Growing and Teens Face the Highest Health Risk

Republican Jodi Wilke Wins Union Endorsement; Judges, Lawyers Score Haas Low on Integrity, Competence and Leadership

by | Sep 14, 2018 | Politics

A little campaign news.

Republican challenger Jodi Wilke has snagged a union endorsement in her David vs. Goliath race against incumbent Mike Chapman, who represents Jefferson County in the State House of Representatives.  In his race to remain a District 24 State Rep, Chapman has been racking up endorsements.  We previously covered his collection of organizational allies, as well as his fundraising advantage.  He has continued to add to his list of endorsements and build his war chest. The primary poll results showed Chapman with a sizable lead going into the general election.

Wilke has not let the unfavorable odds diminish her spirit and has remained in constant motion. For a first run against a much more experienced incumbent, she has been acquitting herself well.

So it is newsworthy that underfunded, outgunned Wilke can claim a union endorsement.  Union support of Democrats is not an attention-getter.  But a Republican winning union support, that deserves some keystrokes.

Laborers International Union of North America, Local 292, has thrown its support behind Wilke.  They represent construction workers, with a nationwide membership in excess of 500,000.

This was Wilke’s union hall out of Everett when she worked in the construction industry.  She also did some work out of ##242 and 440 in Seattle.  When she started own her construction business, she hired union help and signed the collective bargaining agreements.

Says Wilke, “They know I understand both sides of the union issues – both employee and employer. I became well-,versed on many of the issues facing the construction industry both in my own business and later when I worked in the mortgage industry dealing with construction loans and investor projects.

“I support the union,” she says, “for what it can offer workers [in] training, offering a living wage, and benefits. These things are critical for families and individuals to make a decent life.  As a business owner, I knew I could count on a skilled, hard-working crew of any size when I was able to land a big foundation contract. This was a critical aspect of being profitable. I did not sign union contracts for the smaller jobs, such as fencing and decks but we did pay comparable wages.

“I also know the work that goes into providing a ready, knowledgeable and skilled workforce that is geared up, reliable and has a good attitude. I completed the apprenticeship program, as did my ex husband, and my older son is currently progressing through it as well. The Laborers apprenticeship program out of Kingston is an excellent program. When I was married, we even had our wedding reception at their camp! [T]hese are good people and were a big part of my life at that time.”
Judges, Lawyers Score Haas Poorly on Integrity, Competence and Leadership
Good Results for Harrison and Nole
  
The Jefferson County Bar Association poll of its members is out and does not look good for incumbent Prosecuting Attorney Michael Haas.  The people who interact with him daily in the courthouse gave him failing grades on key professional qualities.
On integrity, 53% found him unacceptable.  Only 27% found him acceptable.
On professional competence, he scored worse.  57% rated his performance as prosecuting attorney unacceptable.
On management and leadership, he scored the worst.  Only 10% found him acceptable.  Nearly two-thirds of judges and lawyers rated his performance as unacceptable.
You can read the full poll results here.
James Kennedy, who is challenging Haas, received very few “unacceptable” ratings in any category, and scored significantly higher than Haas on integrity, competence and especially management and leadership.
Noah Harrison, who is running for District Court Judge against Mindy Walker, scored very high.  Walker’s results spoke poorly of her reputation among her peers for competence, judicial decision-making, and preparation and effectiveness in court.
Detective Joe Nole, who is challenging incumbent Sheriff David Stanko, also scored well in all categories, far outpacing Stanko, who received only 1 “acceptable” vote in the category of management and leadership.