Prosecutor candidates cast blame at each other after court ruling

EPHRATA - Candidates vying for the county's top prosecutor spot are slinging accusations after a state appellate court decision ruled a county coroner's assistant should not sign death certificates.

The case began in 2009 when former Grant County Coroner Jerry Jasman pled guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge after an argument with a female county employee on a drive home after work in a county-owned vehicle, according to the ruling. He was accused of not letting the woman out of the truck, according of a past Columbia Basin Herald article.

Moses Lake defense attorney and current candidate for county prosecutor Garth Dano represented Jasman in the criminal complaint and said Jasman should be able to remain on staff at the coroner despite the criminal charges, Dano said.

After the plea, Jasman served one day in jail and paid a $1,000 fine, according to court documents

Prosecutor Angus Lee argued that because of the conviction, Jasman should not be able to serve as coroner or deputy coroner, according to the ruling.

Despite Lee's objections, the next elected coroner Craig Morrison hired Jasman as deputy coroner and for a period of time Jasman signed death certificates as part of that job.

Lee objected, stating Jasman should not be signing death certificates.

Instead of firing Jasman, Morrison created a new job title as investigator, according to the ruling.

In 2012, Lee filed a "quo warranto" complaint against Jasman.

"It is pretty clear from the trial record that the cause of all of this was the flawed legal advice that Jasman and Coroner Morrison received from Jasman's criminal defense attorney Garth Dano. The trial court and court of appeals held that this advice was wrong," Lee stated after the ruling.

Dano said he never counseled Morrison and only told Jasman that he should be able to remain on staff and did not address the death certificate issue.

"There should have never been a lawsuit filed. The difference between Angus (Lee) and myself is that I would have worked a solution to that problem without causing a lawsuit against the coroner's office," Dano said.

Ephrata attorney George Ahrend represented Jasman in the suit. He agreed with Dano and called the suit "silly."

Ahrend said the reason Lee filed the lawsuit is the appointed interim coroner, Dave Matney, lost the ensuing election to Morrison and Lee could not control Morrison the way he could have controlled Matney.

"Angus has had a bee in his bonnet about the coroner's office ever since that election," Ahrend said.

Lee fired back that the reason for the suit was not political, but had practical implications.

He said during a criminal trial where a death occurred, a defense attorney could object to any death certificate signed by Jasman, because of Jasman's own guilty plea.

"The prosecuting attorney would prefer death certificates not be subject to these challenges," he stated.

Ahrend said he plans to appeal the court's 2-1 decision.

Morrison, who is running unopposed for re-election as coroner, said that Jasman still works at the office, but is not currently signing death certificates and "has not done so for some time."