Former Grant County Prosecutor Garth Dano, shown here speaking at a Moses Lake School District school board meeting during his term as the county's chief prosecuting attorney, has had one of his convictions reversed by the Washington Supreme Court.
June 30, 2022
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State high court condemns former Grant Co. prosecutor’s conduct
OLYMPIA — The Washington State Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously overturned the 2017 conviction of a Moses Lake man charged with assaulting police officers, ruling that then-Grant County Prosecuting Attorney Garth Dano engaged in prosecutorial misconduct by by asking jurors their opinions of illegal immigration during jury selection. “We conclude that the prosecutor’s questions and remarks apparently intentionally appealed to the jurors’ potential racial or ethnic bias, prejudice, or stereotypes and therefore constitute race-based prosecutorial misconduct,” wrote Associate Chief Justice Charles Johnson in the court’s majority opinion. “I haven’t had time to review it,” Dano said Thursday of the ruling. “And I don’t want to say anything without reviewing the ruling.”...