Trial expected in lawsuit against Grant County

Man claims he wasn't given adequate counsel

SPOKANE - A civil rights trial is expected to start later this year in federal court after a Warden man charged with child molestation claimed he was wrongly held in the Grant County Jail for seven months.

Felipe Vargas sued Grant County and former public defender Thomas Earl in 2006 for allegedly not providing "effective assistance of counsel," said Vargas' Moses Lake attorney, George Ahrend.

The trial is set for June 16 to June 27 in U.S. District Court, but will likely be delayed, Ahrend said.

Earl is representing himself in the case and declined to comment for the article.

"The county's very confident of their position, it's a defendable case," said Grant County's Seattle attorney Francis Floyd. "We feel that we can defend all of the allegations."

Floyd said that Vargas must prove he's innocent before recovering anything.

Ahrend said the charges were dismissed against Vargas with prejudice, which means they can't be refiled.

But one of the alleged victims gave a deposition last month and Floyd said he will file a motion of reconsideration with the court when the deposition is transcribed.

Floyd declined to elaborate on its contents except to say, "it's a very significant issue of the case."

Vargas is asking for an undeterrmined amount of money because he lost his job and couldn't work while he was sitting in jail, Ahrend said.

The lawsuit stems from Vargas' arrest in 2003 for an alleged molestation case involving two female acquaintances, ages 12 and 17, court documents state.

The charges against Vargas were dismissed seven months after his arrest, although one alleged victim reportedly recanted her story only days after his arrest, Ahrend claimed. Court documents state the younger girl also said her older sister fabricated the allegations.

Ahrend alleged Vargas' attorney at the time, Earl, didn't know the girls had recanted their stories.

Court documents state the court apparently didn't know about the recantations as it was setting bail or ruling on associated matters until after Vargas was held in jail for seven months.

The suit also alleges that information about the girls taking back their allegations was "in the hands of investigating agents and the prosecutor who never communicated it to the court or the defendant," court documents state.

Ahrend claimed the prosecutor's office didn't keep handwritten notes from the case and provide training for police officers on handling exculpatory evidence.

On Feb. 11, 2004, the Washington Supreme Court suspended Earl from practicing law for allegedly requesting a client payment beyond what he was receiving from the county, court documents state.

Six days later, Grant County terminated his contract for public defense services, according to court documents.

"This is a guy that doesn't speak English," Ahrend said of Vargas. "He tries to listen to court proceedings in a foreign language. It's hard to imagine."

Grant County Superior Court judges assigned hundreds of felony cases previously handled by Earl's office to 49 attorneys.

Ahrend's partner Garth Dano was the attorney that took Vargas' case.

Dano reportedly interviewed the alleged victims and learned information that led to Vargas' release, according to court documents.

Grant County's public defense system was later put under supervision, Ahrend said.

"We know the quality of representation has improved," he added.