Wash. Supreme Court published opinion — 989681.pdf

Citation: Wash. Supreme Court published opinion — 989681.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/989681.pdf ↗

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self-demote, Sheriff Hatcher initiated an administrative review. Sheriff Hatcher

produced a letter dated February 14, 2020 to the Franklin County sheriff with a

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In re Recall Charges Against Benton County Sheriff Gerald D. Hatcher,
No. 98968-1

formal request to initiate an administrative review. However according to the

metadata, the letter he produced was actually created on February 21, 2020.

Sergeant Erickson alleges that Sheriff Hatcher violated RCW 40.16.020, which

criminalizes “falsify[ing] any record or paper appertaining to the officer’s office.”

The voters could find that Sheriff Hatcher did falsify the letter when he

dated it for a date prior to the actual date the file was created. Although Sheriff

Hatcher claims that it was backdated to when he had the initial conversation, we do

not weigh the evidence. Further, this is not simply an act of changing a date.

Sheriff Hatcher falsified the date on the administrative review of himself, which he

sent to his political ally. This act, when viewed in context with all of the wrongful

actions taken by Sheriff Hatcher, is a substantial act. This violation is also a class B

felony and could result in up to 10 years in prison. That the sheriff, who has been

elected to uphold the law, would also intentionally violate it, is substantial.

MOTION TO STRIKE

On October 13, 2020, Sergeant Erickson filed a motion to strike appendix A of

Sheriff Hatcher’s reply brief and all reference to the appendix within the brief,

alleging that the document contained in the appendix was not considered in the

record before the superior court. Sheriff Hatcher does not challenge this assertion but,