Mattawa settles with resident over DUI arrest

EPHRATA — For $25,000, Mattawa officials settled a constitutional rights violation lawsuit over one man's drunk driving arrest in June 2005.

Attorneys representing the town's insurance company and the alleged drunk driver dismissed the lawsuit in Grant County Superior Court on Feb. 28. The settlement agreement was signed Feb. 27.

The driver, Jose Martinez, of Mattawa, brought the lawsuit against the Town of Mattawa, the Mattawa Police Department and police officer Anthony Valdivia for the June 4 arrest that he claimed violated his constitutional rights.

Officer Valdivia entered Martinez's residence in the 200 block of Brian Avenue without a warrant or an invitation to make the arrest, attorney Brian Chase said last month. Chase represented Martinez in the lawsuit.

Martinez was then booked into Grant County Jail for driving under the influence, where he spent the next 18 hours.

Chase argued the arrest was illegal under the Washington Constitution.

A Grant County District Court judge and administrative law judge for the state Department of Licensing agreed. They dropped the DUI charge. State and county officials did not appeal either judge's decision, Chase said.

The lawsuit listed two other occasions when Valdivia entered Maritinez's home without a warrant or permission.

Mattawa Mayor Judy Esser said Wednesday she has not read the settlement agreement and could not provide further details.

"I've been out of the loop," she said.

Town officials, she said, do not plan to reprimand Valdivia.

"This happened before he attended the police academy," she said. "He just graduated."

The settlement agreement included a condition of confidentiality that precluded either side from revealing the parties involved or the amount of money paid to Martinez.

The details were released Monday in response to a request made by the Columbia Basin Herald under the state's public records act.