Respect for the law and the role of a prosecutor

I'm writing this to encourage voters in Grant County to vote for Garth Dano for prosecutor. Do not consider this an endorsement, as I have no idea how Mr. Dano would perform in that office. But I do think that Grant County deserves a better reputation in the state of Washington than it currently has. This is not a referendum on Angus Lee as a person, as he seems to be a nice family man and is a highly-decorated and esteemed member of our armed forces, but that doesn't make you a good fit to head the justice system of Grant County. Garth Dano, as a lifelong defense attorney, would bring a balanced perspective of the justice system into a role that could desperately benefit from it.

I was inspired to write this editorial after seeing a recent post by Angus Lee on his Facebook page. On Oct. 11, Angus Lee posted "The duty of a prosecutor is to serve the people and put criminals in jail. Criminal defense lawyers do the opposite: they are paid to keep criminals out of jail." This struck me as important. Mr. Lee either has a very unique and inaccurate perception of the roles of prosecutors and defense attorneys or he thinks that the Grant County electorate isn't intelligent enough to know that he's wrong. Either is disappointing and does nothing but stand to perpetuate the poor reputation that Grant County's justice system has.

One aspect of a prosecutor's job is to evaluate whether there is enough evidence to make it worth the county's time to charge someone with a crime, thus beginning the judicial process. Another aspect is to argue the state's case against the accused; the accused, who is not yet a "criminal," by every definition in the book. The defense attorney's job is to represent his or her client to the best of their abilities as is reasonable and proper according to rules of professional conduct and argue their client's position zealously, rather than to "keep criminals out of jail." Angus Lee criticizes Garth Dano for his defense of these persons. In reality, if Mr. Dano did not zealously represent his clients, he would have broken the rules and been liable for malpractice. The whole idea about the adversarial criminal justice system that we have in America is that if the state argues its best case and the defense argues its best case, that in theory, justice will rise to the surface and a jury will be able to determine whether someone is guilty or not. Labeling someone a "criminal" in advance of this process is an embarrassment to the legal profession and does nothing to create a positive atmosphere for the realization of justice.

Mr. Lee goes on to comment that he thought it was improper to accept campaign funds from defense attorneys because a prosecutor that accepts funds from these lawyers "that he should be aggressively fighting against later looks an awful lot like a fighter paid in advance to 'throw the fight.'" Simply, that is ludicrous. There are times when a prosecutor or defense attorney would have to be more adversarial in interactions between the parties but not always. Plus, a prosecutor isn't fighting against the defense attorney; the prosecutor should be presenting the state's best case. Collaboration, negotiation, and assessing whether something is really worth the government's precious time and resources is a big part of being a prosecutor. Refusing to work with someone across the aisle not only stifles the justice process for the accused but wastes time and money and stands to make Grant County look like it doesn't know what it's doing.

I hope this editorial may give some undecided voters pause and encourage them to give Garth Dano an opportunity. He has a wealth of experience that I think Grant County could benefit from dearly. Having been a defense attorney for as long as he has, that is not a bad thing, but a body of work that could only serve to restore integrity and judicial balance to a position that desperately needs it.

Danny Sheed is a Seattle attorney and former Moses Lake resident.