Top Seattle Judge Ed McKenna Pushes Back On Claims Of Bias

SEATTLE, WA — Some top figures in Seattle's legal system came to blows this week after the Seattle City Attorney and the director of King County public defenders office issued a rebuke of Seattle Municipal Court's presiding judge, Ed McKenna.

McKenna issued his response on Thursday, pushing back on claims of bias made by City Attorney Pete Holmes and Department of Public Defense Director Anita Khandelwal — and declining to recuse himself from criminal matters, as Khandelwal and Holmes had asked.

Most prominently, the letter to McKenna accuses the judge of bias in sentencing Francisco Calderon, a homeless man who has been convicted 72 times for various crimes over the course of his life. Last November, Calderon sucker-punched a man on Capitol Hill, landing him in court on a fourth-degree assault charge. That incident attracted media scrutiny and questions about lax treatment of repeat offenders.

On the day of sentencing in January, Holmes and Khandelwal said that McKenna invited a KOMO news reporter and Jennifer Coats, a contributor to the group Safe Seattle (in the letter, Coats is identified as being a member of another group, Speak Out Seattle) to watch.

In his letter, McKenna denied that he invited KOMO and Coats, but did say he frequently invites members of the public to see how court works.

KOMO reporter Matt Markovich's story on Calderon's sentencing questions whether Holmes was being "too light" on repeat offenders. Holmes' office had recommended probation and mental health treatment for Calderon, but McKenna decided to instead send Calderon to jail for a year. McKenna said in court that he had "not seen a worse history" of violence in regard to Calderon's record.

"It is exceedingly unlikely that Ms. Coats and Mr. Markovich coincidentally decided to watch court on the same day," the letter states. "Your invitation to Ms. Coats and apparent invitation to Mr. Markovich suggests you decided the outcome in Mr. Calderon’s matter before sentencing – before the parties had an opportunity to present argument and before Mr. Calderon could address the court."

The letter also says McKenna complained of feeling bound to city prosecutors' sentencing recommendations in a speech at the April 19 City Maker breakfast.

"There, you suggested that you felt bound to follow prosecutors’ recommendations 99 percent of the time. This suggests the very opposite of impartiality – and that you disregard the advocacy of defense counsel," the letter says.

That's a violation of Canon of Judicial Conduct, the letter says, since it could mean McKenna does not fairly consider arguments from defense attorneys. The letter also said McKenna has complained that he looks like "the bad guy" for not handing out harsher sentences.

But McKenna disputed their phrasing of his quote. A transcript of the City Maker event obtained by Crosscut shows the judge's full comment:

"[J]udges typically, 99% of the time, will follow the recommendation of the prosecutor. And we rely on the prosecutor because we expect [prosecutors] will make a reasonable recommendation based on the defendant's criminal history, the nature of the offense and the strengths and weaknesses of their case and so [judges] rarely exceed a prosecutor's recommendation in those cases. So really it's pretty much a prosecution-driven program."

McKenna accused Holmes and Khandelwal of violating the Washington Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct.

"A lawyer shall not make a statement that the lawyer knows to be false or with reckless disregard as to its truth or falsity concerning the qualifications or integrity of a judge, adjudicatory officer or public legal officer, or of a candidate for election or appointment to judicial or legal office."

For now, Holmes and Khandelwal will boycott bench-bar meetings with McKenna as long as he remains presiding judge.

"We request that you either comport yourself in a way that conforms with the Canons of Judicial Conduct or that you recuse yourself in all criminal matters. We also ask that you step aside as presiding judge," their letter concludes.