HAAS LASHES OUT AT LAW ENFORCEMENT AFTER FOP ENDORSES KENNEDY [Updated]

by | Jun 3, 2018 | Politics | 0 comments
Area law enforcement has broken a tradition of noninvolvement in the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s race to endorse challenger James Kennedy’s bid to oust incumbent Michael Haas.
On May 20, 2018, the Fraternal Order of Police, North Olympic Lodge #31, issued its endorsement of Kennedy in the race between the two Democrats.  This is reportedly the first time they have ever endorsed a candidate for Prosecuting Attorney.
FOP Lodge #31 represents law enforcement officers in Jefferson, Clallam, and North Kitsap County.
Kennedy’s campaign website also lists individual endorsements from current prosecutors and law enforcement officers and their families.

In response to the FOP endorsement, Haas attacked the organization representing local law enforcement in a post at the Re-elect Haas for Prosecutor Facebook page.
His post links to an article by Paul Butler, a Georgetown University law professor, that attacks the national Federation of Police as a racist institution.  Butler is known for advocating that black jurors refuse to convict black defendants regardless of the evidence.
We asked Haas if he was accusing local law enforcement officers of being racists and how he could work with them as Prosecuting Attorney after this attack.  He has not responded to our request.  We will update this post with any response from Mr. Haas.
Haas’ website lists endorsements from defense attorneys.  We could not identify any endorsements from law enforcement officers or current prosecutors.
In the course of researching this story, we have learned of a growing divide between the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney and local law enforcement.  One cause repeatedly mentioned to us has been Mr. Haas’ recent dismissal of rape charges and his treatment of the alleged victim.
On April 26, 2018, on a motion from Haas, rape charges were dismissed against Patrick McAllister.  His previous conviction for rape had been reversed and remanded for retrial.  Haas criticized the previous prosecution and told the court dismissal of the charges without retrial was the right decision to make “legally and ethically.”
Wendy Davis, whose Facebook page identifies her as manager of the Kennedy for Prosecuting Attorney campaign, has described Haas’ handling of that case as “social injustice.”  “In our County,” she wrote on her Facebook page, “women’s and victim’s rights appear to have been set back decades.”  Davis was an employee of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office when Haas was elected but later resigned.  She is now employed at the Port Townsend Police Department.
Kennedy has accused Haas of failing to protect the victim and acquiescing in highly aggressive defense tactics, which caused Dove House to hire their own attorney and which subjected the woman to unusually intrusive and humiliating treatment.  His charges against Haas’ handling of the case can be read byclicking here.
Mr. Haas has not responded to these accusations.
Port Townsend Free Press will begin looking into the McAllister rape case as this matter will likely surface repeatedly from now until the November election.  We will examine the case file and utilize public records requests and conduct interviews when possible.  Please look for our reporting here.

UPDATE:

Kennedy issued the following statement on Facebook in response to this story:
I understand that this has become rather controversial so I would like to clarify a few points.
1) I am being endorsed by the LOCAL North Olympic Lodge, which only represents members of our LOCAL law enforcement community. This is NOT the national organization, I have nothing to do with them and I do not support the national organizations past endorsements. This is a LOCAL race, so let’s keep things local ok?

2) I did not request this endorsement. I had requested individual officers to endorse me, but many were hesitant. They remember my opponent expressing delight at the opportunity to “fry” a cop, when given the chance. They remember him calling them “keystone kops”, and they also recall his active attempts to get a particular deputy fired and possibly criminally charged after he took office. Consequently, many officers thought it would be better for them to show their support by having their local lodge endorse me, which I graciously accept.

3) I received this endorsement because I fostered an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect with our local law enforcement. That does not mean we see eye to eye on everything all the time, but that we can approach each other honestly and as professionals to find ways to make our respective departments work better. You simply cannot successfully serve the public as Prosecuting Attorney while having an openly hostile relationship your law enforcement community. That helps no one.
Jim Scarantino

Jim Scarantino was the editor and founder of Port Townsend Free Press. He is happy in his new role as just a contributor writing on topics of concern to him. He spent the first 25 years of his professional life as a trial attorney, then launched an online investigative news website that broke several national stories. He is also the author of three crime novels. He resides in Jefferson County. See our "About" page for more information.

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