Attempt to recall prosecutor at petition stage

By Pat Jenkins The Dispatch Backers of an attempt to remove Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Lindquist from office have proven part of their case in court and now are trying to convince enough voters to make it an election issue. A court ruling this month found one of a dozen recall charges filed against Lindquist in June is legally sufficient for the recall effort to move forward. The next step is for recall proponents to collect approximately 38,000 signatures of registered Pierce County voters and submit them to the county auditor for verification. The number is 25 percent of the total votes cast in the last general election for prosecuting attorney. That's the percentage state law requires to qualify recalls of an elected official for the ballot. If it reaches that stage, a recall measure involving Lindquist would be in next year's election. Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Jay Roof, who was assigned to review recall charges against Lindquist in order to avoid conflicts of interest for Pierce County judges, ruled Aug. 7 that the recall effort against Lindbergh can proceed over allegations that the prosecutor abused the power of his office. Roof found legal and factual sufficiency in the charge that Lindquist is responsible for allegedly vindictive prosecution of a Pierce County woman who was charged multiple times in connection with a case of alleged sex abuse of her daughter. Charges against the woman have been dismissed twice by judges, most recently in March. Lindquist's office is appealing the latest dismissal. Vindictive prosecution was among 12 charges by Cheryl Iseberg, a University Place resident, in a recall petition she filed against Lindquist in June. Roof rejected the other 11 charges as lacking merit to constitute possible grounds for recall. In a court hearing before Roof, an attorney representing Lindquist denied all of the allegations. Lindquist, who can appeal Roof's decision but as of last Thursday hadn't said publicly if he will, issued prepared statements in June and this month in which he defended the work of his office. After Roof's ruling, Lindquist said that in the case of alleged sex abuse that is central to the lone standing recall charge, "evidence showedGÇ¥ that the defendant "assisted in the crimesGÇ¥ and that judges "found probable cause for the filingGÇ¥ of charges against her. "I'm confident the people of Pierce County will support our efforts to pursue justice" in the case, Lindquist said. Recall Mark Lindquist, the group headed by Iseberg, issued a plea on its Facebook page for volunteers to help circulate petitions for the signatures required to force a recall election. The last attempted recall of a Pierce County official didn't reach the ballot. A group trying to unseat then assessor-treasurer Dale Washam fell 1,317 signatures short of the number needed to qualify for an election in 2011. Washam later ran for re-election and was defeated. Ironically, Washam, while he was assessor-treasurer, was connected to an attempted recall of Lindquist in 2010. Recall charges filed by Washam's chief deputy revolved around complaints that Lindquist didn't act on requests by Washam, who was then a private citizen and government gadfly, to investigate Washam's claims of wrongdoing in how the assessor-treasurer's office appraised property values. All of the recall charges were dismissed. Lindquist, previously a deputy prosecutor, has been prosecuting attorney since 2009, when he was appointed by the County Council to replace Gerry Horne, who retired. Lindquist was elected the next year to serve the rest of Horne's unexpired term, and he was re-elected last year to a new four-year term. He ran unopposed.

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