Attorney drops sanctions against prosecutor

Harry Ries no longer wants to be a part of 'petty gamesmanship'

Moses Lake attorney Harry Ries has dropped a request for sanctions against Grant County Prosecutor John Knodell.

Ries appeared before Grant County Superior Court Judge John Antosz Tuesday morning to file the brief dropping the sanctions. He also asked to be removed from representing a convicted rapist in determining restitution.

The sanction Ries requested amounted to $1,435, which included his time researching the issue.

Ries was conscripted for that case by Grant County judges. Knodell filed a motion to have Ries ~ along with more than 100 other conscripted attorneys — removed from this case in an effort to avoid paying the higher costs of his wages versus those approved to be paid to attorneys who contracted with the county.

Knodell's motions were rejected.

Grant County Superior Court judges have ruled that all conscripted attorneys (those who were drafted to take indigent-defense cases following the disbarment of public defender Tom Earl) would receive 82.5 percent of hourly fee for their services.

Ries was to be paid $169 per hour to represent indigent defendants.

County commissioners and Knodell, citing the county's tight budget, have lobbied for a fee of $50 to $75 per hour to be paid to conscripted attorneys.

In a brief to the court, Ries wrote that he no longer wanted to provide services to Grant County.

"I no longer want to be a part of the petty gamesmanship that seems to drive the Grant County Prosecutors (sic) Office and the County Commissioners, all under the guise of protecting taxpayers. I no longer care to be painted with Mr. Knodell's brush merely because I was drafted to do a job, and am trying to do it. Enough is enough," he wrote.

Ries did not return a message left by the Herald with his secretary Thursday afternoon seeking comment.

Ries also pointed to an article in the Columbia Basin Herald about his motion for sanctions in which an unattributed statement reads that money is the central issue of the rift between Ries and Knodell.

"The money is not the central issue of the dispute," Ries wrote.

Antosz assigned Ries' restitution case to Moses Lake attorney Ted Mahr, who has a contract for public defense with Grant County.

Knodell said he hopes he and Ries can put the issue behind them.

"I'm glad that Harry dropped this," he said. "I just hope there's no hard feelings between him and me, which I don't think there are. We've known each other for a long time."