In recent months many criminal defense attorneys have been avoiding having their cases heard by Judge Ed McKenna in the Seattle Municipal Court. The King County Department of Public Defenders (DPD) has filed affidavits of prejudice in more than 200 cases to disqualify the judge. This equates to t...
Washington's Office of the Insurance Commissioner's Criminal Investigations Unit is a state agency that investigates individuals and groups who participate in acts to defraud insurance companies. In a 2019 report, the organization estimated that roughly one of every ten claims made to insurers ar...
A woman, whose name has yet to be released, was found dead on Grand Avenue in North Everett. The Seattle Times reports that emergency responders were called to the scene and transported her to Providence Medical Center where her death was confirmed. It appears that she was the victim of a hit-and...
Karen Marie Bankarski, a registered nurse from Whatcom County, was found to have repeatedly forged prescriptions in order to obtain narcotics. She was determined to have forged more than 40 prescriptions for opioid medications, which have been the major cause of overdose fatalities across the cou...
Michael Evan Ross-Morales, a 61-year-old Vancouver man, was in the Clark County Superior Court recently to answer charges of vehicular homicide. He is accused of striking and killing 65-year-old Michael Simmelink with a car as he was walking along Washougal Rd. Ross-Morales, who apparently has a ...
The Kitsap County Sheriff's Department is searching for Chrissayn Jay Louis Borwieck, a 17-year-old believed to have orchestrated a burglary at Boerner's Firearms recently. A warrant has been issued for his arrest as dozens of firearms were stolen during the theft and significant damage was done ...
Victor Karpiak, a former CEO of First Savings Bank Northwest in Renton, was sentenced to one year in prison in a U.S. District Court recently. He is currently retired and residing in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Judge William M. Conley was responsible for sentencing after Karpiak was found to have avoi...
Aubrey Taylor, a 32-year-old man from Seattle, was sentenced to 276 months in prison after a jury trial. Taylor is often referred to by the nickname “Uno.” He was charged with multiple felonies including sex trafficking, fraud, and more. There were several witnesses who provided testimony regardi...
Three suspects are being held in the King County jail facing a host of drug and weapons charges after two homes were raided by the Seattle Police Department. What was called a “major drug trafficking ring” had been investigated by members of the North Precinct Anti-Crime Team and the Drug Enforce...
Federal authorities arrested Randall Muck, of Port Angeles, Washington, on allegations of pointing a laser at a government aircraft. A grand jury indicted Muck for pointing the light at a helicopter being operated by the U.S. Coast Guard. U.S. Attorney Brian Moran says the defendant also was ques...
Washington State General Rule 15 provides for sealing or redacting of criminal record where a conviction has been vacated. Though existing rules for vacating of criminal record do not universally provide for the destruction of court records in an adult criminal conviction, a court may decide to t...
Driving under the influence is a serious criminal infraction in Washington that can cost tens of thousands of dollars in fines, restitution auto repairs, as well as time in jail or prison. If charged with a DUI in Washington, a criminal attorney may be able to assist a defendant in “plea bargaini...
A South Dakota woman was recently arrested for the cold case murder of her infant son who was found in a ditch 38 years ago. Police were able to make the arrest by obtaining information from a free ancestry site, GEDMatch, where people can upload their genetic information, similar to Ancestry and...
The concept of monetary bail has been traditionally employed in the criminal justice systems in Washington and most of the country. Defendants who are arrested and detained in jail are brought in front of a judge for an arraignment. The judge may impose a specific amount of money that is required...
Solomon McLemore and his girlfriend were engaged in a loud verbal altercation at their home in Shoreline, WA. A neighbor contacted the police, who responded and asked to be let inside. No one inside responded to the door after a period of roughly 15 minutes. The sounds of breaking glass inside th...
The King County Sheriff's Office reports that incidents of sexual misconduct on the bus system have surged recently. Over the last year, the county launched a local campaign to increase awareness of the problem. Mary Ellen Stone, executive director of the King County Sexual Assault Resource Cente...
A caller to 911 recently stated that someone had broken into his home on 13th Avenue Southwest in White Center. The man was apparently hiding in a bedroom closet awaiting the authorities when the alleged burglar entered the room. The homeowner shot and killed the 29-year-old man just before respo...
The Seattle Times recently reported that Mary J. Banks, a Spokane-area resident, is facing allegations of animal cruelty involving the death of nine squirrels. The Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service (SCRAPS) was apparently involved in notifying the local authorities. Passers-by com...
An individual can face harassment charges in many different scenarios. A text message sent out of anger, a spiteful Facebook comment, or even a fist raised can lead to harassment charges. In some cases, an individual is charged with harassment without sincerely intending to harm another person. ...
Police have arrested a Washington man for allegedly raping a woman while pretending to be her ride-share driver. King County police had been looking for the suspect since December after the man picked her up outside of a bar, lured the woman into his vehicle, and pulled over to rape the victim wh...
Celebrity attorney Michael Avenatti has been arrested in New York and charged with the crime of extortion. Federal prosecutors claim that Avenatti tried to extort millions of dollars from Nike. The former attorney for adult-film star Stormy Daniels allegedly threatened to hold a news conference t...
A Washington man has been charged with four counts of second-degree arson after allegedly setting fire to several commercial properties in the Seattle area late last year. The fires, set to a gymnasium, a lumber yard, an Elks lodge, and an office complex, resulted in an estimated $4 million in da...
An Australian man has been arrested for allegedly selling stolen login information to one million Netflix, Hulu, and Spotify accounts. The man, a twenty-one year old IT professional, pocketed over $200,000 in sales before being arrested by the Australian FBI. He allegedly accessed the stolen logi...
An Oregon man has been sued by the estate of a woman whom he ran over in a grocery store parking lot. The woman was loading groceries into her car at the time she was hit and later died from her injuries. According to the lawsuit, the man was on the Whole30 diet and had skipped breakfast and lunc...
YouTube star Deshae Frost allegedly encouraged hundreds of teen fans to attend a meet-and-greet at SouthCenter Mall, which ended in pandemonium that sparked fears of a mass shooting. The Youtube star allegedly posted to his fans, “let's show up at the mall at 5, let's get kicked out.” The teens l...
