Information on judge's collision called misleading

EPHRATA — An investigative report recommended the termination of Grant County Deputy Prosecutor Teddy Chow for his role in the release of information about a judge’s collision.

Attorney Jerry Moberg, who represents Canfield and Associates, the county’s insurance company, recently finished a 12-page report on Grant County Deputy Prosecutor Teddy Chow’s role in a controversy concerning a district court judge’s involvement in a collision.

The Columbia Basin Herald received a copy of the report through a public records request.

Chow no longer works for the Grant County Prosecutor’s Office. 

All deputy prosecutors needed to apply for appointment when Prosecutor Angus Lee was sworn in on Dec. 4 after winning the general election in November. Chow said in a previous interview he requested reappointment, but did not receive an invitation.

Lee said he would not discuss the influence of the report on his decision concerning deputy appointments.

The report revolves around a written statement, signed by Chow, accusing Lee of lying during a candidate forum in October. Chow stated the prosecutor knew about a June 5 collision involving Grant County District Court Judge Richard Fitterer, rumored to be a hit-and-run crime.

The judge’s Lexus ?reportedly scratched a truck when he failed to yield as a highway narrowed just ?outside of Quincy, according to the report. The judge told police he didn’t realize he’d hit the truck and later settled the matter with the truck’s owner.

Chow heard about the collision the same day, June 5, as he returned from a training class with two other deputy prosecutors. When the men reached Ephrata, they spoke with Lee about the incident, according to the report.

“Mr. Lee advised Mr. Chow to keep him updated on the situation,” Moberg wrote. “Because two of the deputies were fairly new on the job, Mr. Lee thought it prudent to remind them that they should not discuss this matter with anyone outside of the office since they did not have any reliable information about what had actually happened.”

Chow reportedly received a police report on Aug. 31 and concluded the file “did not support any criminal or traffic charges against Judge Fitterer,” according to Moberg.

Moberg claims the  police report stayed on Chow’s desk and he didn’t tell Lee about receiving it.

Roughly two months later, Former Sen. Harold Hochstatter questioned Lee and indicated he knew about the collision months earlier.

“The officer, who didn’t arrest, recognized the judge. I knew that in July when I was here at another debate and nothing has been done,” Hochstatter said at the forum on Oct. 13, according to a Columbia Basin Herald article. “That was June 5 and now it is four months later. Are you going to do anything about that?”

Lee responded: “So you’re telling me that a judge got into a fender-bender and you want me to prosecute him? Let me point out the way a justice system works Harold. The police write reports and they arrest people and send that to my office. My office has never received any information of any kind, regarding what you are talking about. If we receive any information from law enforcement that there is probable cause for a crime, we prosecute it, regardless of who it is.”

Chow wrote in his statement: “I am referring to the statements I see quoted in the Columbia Basin Herald, page A12, of the Oct. 15, 2009, edition, stating, ‘My office has never received any information of any kind … This statement is unquestionably false.”

Moberg declares Lee was telling the truth.

“It is clear that at the forum on Oct. 13, Mr. Lee was completely unaware that a police report and charging document had been filed and delivered to Mr. Chow regarding this matter,” Moberg states.

Two days later, Lee confronted Chow about Hochstatter’s question, asking whether he received the police report. Chow admitted to receiving it and deciding not to file charges, according to Moberg’s report.

The prosecutor questioned Chow on the people he talked to outside of the office about the incident. Chow allegedly responded he couldn’t remember, according to the report. Lee asked if Chow realized it was a violation of the office’s confidentiality policy to discuss the matter with members of the public. He insisted Chow write down the names of the people he told.

“Mr. Chow wrote down the names of two police officers,” the report states. “Mr. Lee again asked him to list any persons to whom he spoke outside of law enforcement. Mr. Chow simply stated that members of the public asked him about the incident and he could not remember their names.”

Chow reportedly accused Lee of interrogating him because of politics. When Lee asked why Chow didn’t tell him about the police report and Chow’s investigation, the deputy prosecutor allegedly said he had many cases on his desk he wouldn’t charge, according to the report.

The meeting ended with Chow allegedly slamming a paper down on a table, throwing his pen in the air, and calling Lee a vulgar name multiple times as he left the office, according to a report.

Chow accused Lee of threatening the deputy’s job by saying he needed to make “some budget decisions” by January, according to Chow’s statement.

When Chow left the meeting, he reportedly went to the county’s human resources department, telling the human resources director Lee threatened Chow’s job and he wanted to file a harassment complaint. When Chow allegedly admitted to calling Lee several vulgar names, the director said he could be fired for it, according to the report. Chow reportedly responded by saying, “I don’t care, I am going to sue the county anyway.”

When he was pressed on the grounds for a lawsuit by the human resources director, Chow reportedly said, “negligent hiring,” and “I don’t care. I will find something to hang him on,” according to the report.

That night, Chow allegedly met with defense attorney Randy Fair, former deputy prosecutors Carolyn Fair and Theresa Chen, former prosecutor candidate Robert Schiffner and candidate Albert Lin to draft a statement, “regarding what the meetings attendee’s viewed as a ‘cover-up,’” Moberg wrote.

Moberg claims Chow signed the statement with the knowledge Lin planned to use it to discredit Lee in the campaign. The statement accuses Lee of lying about his knowledge of the police report, stating the prosecutor knew about the alleged incident almost immediately and Chow expected to be fired.

“In my opinion, Mr. Chow knew or reasonably should have known that his statement was seriously misleading as drafted,” the report states. “He should have realized that the authors of the statement had their own agenda and they did not seem overly concerned about making a full disclosure of the facts. Despite this Mr. Chow was willing to sign a misleading statement that could potentially influence the outcome of the election in favor of his preferred candidate.”

Moberg’s report accuses Chow of leaving out his part in deciding to not file charges against Fitterer. The report points at Chow’s statement that he would not “ratify or support a statement that our office had ‘never received any information of any kind, regarding what you are talking about’” as misleading.

“When Mr. Chow made this statement he knew that Mr. Lee was referring to never having received any police reports or charging documents related to Judge Fitterer,” Moberg wrote. “Mr. Chow also knew that Mr. Lee did not even know about the police report and charging documents that were on Mr. Chow’s desk when he responded to Mr. Hochstatter’s inquiry.”

Moberg calls Lee’s statement truthful and accurate, stating in his report Chow should have supported it because he knew it was true, adding there was no evidence Fitterer violated the law.

“The publication of this statement standing alone would in my opinion be sufficient cause for his termination,” the report states. “As a layer and a public prosecutor, Mr. Chow is held to a very high standard of honesty and fair dealing … He is not allowed to ‘shade’ the truth or make statements of ‘half-truths.’”

Chow referred all questions to his attorney, Garth Dano.

Dano initially said on Dec. 8 he hadn’t read the report and couldn’t comment on it. Further inquiries to Dano by the Columbia Basin Herald went without response for 10 days.

The investigative report, in its entirety, is available for viewing in PDF format here.