(The Center Square) – A Washington-based group has filed a legal complaint with the federal and state attorney general offices’ civil rights divisions against the King County Prosecutor’s Office Juvenile Division, alleging it has engaged in illegal diversion of criminal suspects.
In its legal complaint, the Citizen Action Defense Fund also requested that the State Auditor’s Office conduct audits of the Juvenile Division to determine any misuse of public funds and grants.
The complaint alleges that the Juvenile Division set up an illegal agreement with a community activist organization to divert, rather than prosecute, juveniles accused of 28 different types of felonies into the activist organization’s services. Allegedly, Choose 180 has also had a role in determining whether or not a juvenile suspect was charged with a crime or diverted. Choose 180 is a Burien-based nonprofit that “exist(s) to transform oppressive systems that have caused harm and assist young people as they heal from hurt to wholeness,” according to its website.
In particular, the complaint claims that the program illegally diverted almost two dozen juveniles accused of sex offenses, which are not eligible under the county’s Restorative Community Pathways program.
CADF Executive Director and Counsel Jackson Maynard wrote in the letter that “as a former prosecutor who has represented the public in juvenile sexual assault cases, I understand how difficult the job can be especially when applying the burden of proof to specific cases. The public depends on some prosecutorial discretion to maximize appropriate case outcomes. That said, prosecutors are not free to fashion their own legal system, especially one based not upon their own judgements, but on those sourced from a third-party organization (here, 180).”
The complaint cites numerous emails obtained through public records, including an April 2021 email to King County Youth Services Coordinator Jennifer Hill from Juvenile Division Operations Manager Stephanie Trollen.
In it, Trollen wrote that RCP agreement would cause the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office “not to file charges for any case referred to RCP regardless of outcome (meaning, even if a youth completely refuses to participate/engage with the community provider),” and allow Choose 180 to determine who was diverted.
Trollen also wrote that it “is probably the most significant change in practice I have seen in my 24 year career at the PAO.”
Data provided by KCPAO shows that out of 219 juveniles referred to the RCP program this year as of October, they have received new criminal case referrals on 20 of them or 9%. However, the KCPAO Q&A document regarding the diversion program states these concern recidivism, which is defined as “any offense committed by a person within 36 months in the community (after release from confinement) or the completion of a therapeutic court program, that results in a Washington State Court Legal Action.”
Jackson wrote in his legal complaint that “the results of a policy not to enforce the law are, sadly, quite predictable. Prosecutions for sexual assault in the Division have plummeted in recent years despite King County being the thirteenth largest county in the United States by population.”
In an email to The Center Square, KCPAO Communications Director Casey McNerthney wrote that they “welcome independent reviews by impartial auditors.” He also noted that the King County Executive’s Office handled the Restorative Community Pathways contract and program participants, in partnership with the King County Department of Community and Human Services.
The legal complaint also alleges that the Juvenile Division engaged in their diversion “pursuant to” King County’s “Zero Youth Detention” plan to close its only juvenile detention facility by 2025. However, McNerthney wrote that “the PAO has also been consistent in noting that while there are efforts by separate County offices to eliminate all juvenile detention, there are not realistic alternatives in place for those most serious crimes. Those need to be taken seriously in court, with the victims’ voices heard.”
In a Tuesday email to the King County Council, King County Prosecutor Leesa Manion defended the KCPAO sexual assault investigations. While Jackson’s complaint notes the KCPOA’s charging rate for juvenile sexual assault cases is 17%, Manion called that “misleading.”
“In many cases sent to the PAO, the investigating detectives do not believe there is evidence to prove a crime, and they clearly state this in the case referral,” Manion wrote. “Law enforcement refers these cases to us, even though they do not believe a crime has been committed, because they are statutorily required to report this information to a prosecutor.”
She added “every case referred to our office, including sexual assault cases, is independently reviewed, and the PAO files charges when there is sufficient admissible evidence. We decline to file charges in cases where we lack sufficient evidence to prove our case beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Manion also cited a 2020 audit by the county auditor that found the KCPAO had a 90% conviction rate among cases it chose to file charges between 2015 and mid-2018. The audit also concluded that “King County’s results fall within the wide range of national estimates for rape prosecution and conviction rates.”
In an email to The Center Square, Adam Wilson with SAO Communications wrote that “we do not have a comment at this time, as we have not yet reviewed this letter in full,” but noted that the office has already responded to a similar request by CADF in August.
