Seattle attorney’s office moves to block judge from hearing criminal trials for going too soft on defendants

close

Video

Seattle City Council meeting repeatedly interrupted by protesters

Seattle police arrested six people after protesters repeatedly interrupted a city council meeting Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, with one member saying she feared for her safety.

The Seattle City Attorney’s Office is attempting to block Municipal Court Judge Pooja Vaddadi from hearing new criminal cases because they say she has shown a "regular pattern of biased rulings." However, Vaddadi has disputed the allegations, stating she has been following the law.

The Seattle Times reported on Wednesday that the City Attorney's Office instructed its assistant city attorneys to file affidavits of prejudice to prevent new cases from being assigned to Vaddadi, citing "mounting concerns about Vaddadi’s conduct and rulings from the bench that have prevented the city from receiving fair hearings and trials." Since the memo went out, 113 affidavits of prejudice have been filed against her, bringing her 2024 total to 125.

A statement issued by the Seattle Municipal Court this week said that while the judge can continue with current cases, she will not be able to hear new cases in which these affidavits are filed. 

SEATTLE LIGHT RAIL TRAIN SHOOTER REMAINS AT LARGE AFTER KILLING MAN

Seattle's city attorneys have been trying to block a municipal judge from hearing criminal cases after she has been accused of making inappropriate rulings. (REUTERS/Chris Helgren)

When asked if she had made biased rulings, Vaddadi told FOX13 Seattle, "I don’t believe I have. All my decisions have been made within the confines of the law."

The Attorney's Office's former criminal division chief, Natalie Walton-Anderson – who wrote the memo to attorneys before retiring last Friday – stated that because of her concerns over Vaddadi's rulings, "I have made the difficult decision that the office will submit affidavits of prejudice for Judge Vaddadi on all criminal cases moving forward."

Walton-Anderson added, "It has come to a point where Judge Vaddadi’s continued rulings prevent the city from receiving fair hearings and trials, and this action is therefore necessary to protect those rights."

According to The Times, "The memo sent to assistant city attorneys outlines four key areas of concern: probable cause findings, problematic rulings in domestic violence and driving under the influence cases, erroneous evidentiary rulings and the monitoring of domestic violence and DUI offenders."

The memo accused Vaddadi of having "routinely overruled prior findings of probable cause by her fellow judges, and repeatedly failed to find probable cause in situations where clearly probable cause exists." 

It provided an example of this, stating, "she failed to find probable cause for the crime of assault when the suspect threatened a victim with a realistic (though ultimately fake) handgun, based on her belief that there was no alleged touching or contact between the parties."

It added, "Her misunderstanding is in direct conflict with the legal definition of assault and long-standing case law and widely accepted jury instructions."

MSNBC PANEL LAUGHS AT VOTERS IN NON-BORDER STATE FOR CARING ABOUT IMMIGRATION

Judge Pooja Vaddadi has been accused of letting criminal defendants off the hook when it was clear they should have received harsher punishment. (Seattle Police Department)

The memo also stated that Vaddadi "frequently makes erroneous evidentiary rulings for unjustified reasons" and has made arguments on behalf of defendants without hearing arguments from their lawyers." 

The judge responded to that claim as well, noting that her approach is about helping brand-new attorneys at their jobs.

"I affectionately call the municipal court a teaching court. A lot of the time, we do have young attorneys who are practicing for the first time, maybe during their first year of practice, and I am supposed to rule on the law within my discretion, not based on what’s prompted to me," Vaddadi said to FOX13 Seattle.

She added to the outlet, "If I do believe an attorney is making a mistake, it’s common for myself and other judges to step in and make sure the record is clear and laws are being followed."

The memo also stated, "Equally problematic are her rulings related to public safety in Domestic Violence and DUI cases. In many instances, Judge Vaddadi has refused to issue written No Contact Orders, even in situations with a demonstrated history of domestic violence."

The memo also stated that Vaddadi "frequently makes erroneous evidentiary rulings for unjustified reasons" and has made arguments on behalf of defendants without hearing arguments from their lawyers."  (Seattle Police Department)

Vaddadi was accused of not deferring to court orders for defendants to go through treatment. As an example, it was said she declared a defendant in compliance with his court-ordered treatment and dismissed the case despite evidence the defendant never went for treatment. In another, it noted the judge released a suspect from jail even though he was there for his second DUI arrest that week, and had a prior DUI conviction. 

In response to accusations of her improper rulings in DUI and domestic violence cases, Vaddadi told the Fox affiliate, "No. In each case, I have to follow the court rules. I think specifically what she must be talking about is pre-trial release. I can only imagine… I need to follow court rule 3.2 that talks about the release of the accused. I need to balance public safety with the rights of the accused. I can’t violate either one of those."

Slamming the accusations in total, Vaddadi said, "That would be incredibly unethical and contrary to my duties as a judge, so I do not do that."

Elsewhere, she told the local media outlet, "I have always felt I have been making unbiased, unprejudiced decisions on this bench, and it's not going to influence how I do things."

The Seattle Municipal Court's statement on Vaddadi's predicament said, "The Seattle City Attorney’s decision to affidavit Judge Vaddadi on all new criminal case filings will impact Seattle Municipal Court. Judge Vaddadi will not be able to handle arraignments (first appearance hearings), or subsequent pretrial hearings or trials for new cases filed with an affidavit."

It noted that Vaddadi's calender will have to be rearranged to account for her getting booted from these cases, though "There is a body of cases that Judge Vaddadi is overseeing where there is not an option for affidavit of prejudice and she will continue to preside over these cases," it said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

The Seattle City Attorney’s Office and Vaddadi's office did not immediately respond for comment from Fox News Digital.