Hague Judge Removed

When the going gets weird, well, King County Council Democratic candidate Richard Pope keeps it moving right along. He has succeeded in at least temporarily removing the judge who yesterday ruled that Pope's Republican opponent Jane Hague could delay arguments in her drunk-driving trial until after the November election, Seattle Weekly has learned.

King County District Court Presiding Judge Barbara Linde said this afternoon she has already notified pro tem judge Richard Llewelyn Jones of his removal for failing to report his own criminal background.

The removal could also lead to nullification of Jones' ruling to delay arguments over Hague's so-far successful attempt to have blood-alcohol results thrown out. "I'll leave it up to the two sides to decide" whether the delay stands, Linde says, indicating Hague and prosecutors could end up in court again before the election after all.

In an e-mail to Linde and county officials (including Hague) earlier today, Pope raised questions about the propriety of using Jones as a fill-in judge on the DUI case. Hague's presumed easy reelection has been impeded by the DUI arrest along with exaggerations about her educational background and campaign finance issues.

Pope said Jones shouldn't have been allowed to preside at the hearing because the temporary judge - a Bellevue attorney - has a criminal record and is a "Republican activist."

Linde says there were no politics involved in picking Jones to sit in for another judge in the preliminary hearing Monday in Redmond. However, Jones' criminal history should have precluded him from sitting on the pro tem bench. Pope's e-mail was "new news" to her, Linde says, saying Jones had not revealed what were at least two misdemeanor criminal pleas of guilty involving an alleged burglary at his ex-wife's home and a dispute over a rental car, among other incidents.

Both cases began as felonies but were pleaded down, according to court records, Linde says.

Pope argued that Jones, not to be confused with Superior Court Judge Richard Anthony Jones, should not have presided even temporarily over such a "politically sensitive and high-profile" case, and then issued a ruling that aided Hague's campaign.

Linde said she vertified Pope's information quickly. "It was information that I had not been aware of nor any of our judges were aware of. He does have these criminal convictions. I decided to cease using Mr. Jones as a pro tem while we look further into it." A committee will review the case and Jones will be allowed to respond, Linde says.

Jones did not return the Weekly's requests for comment.