Two challengers seek to unseat Issaquah district-court judge

After 14 years on the bench, King County District Court Judge Mary Ann Ottinger is fighting for her judicial life.

The Issaquah judge faces two opponents in this month's primary, her first election challenge since being appointed to the job in 1992. She's considered vulnerable after being censured twice in the past two years.

The state Commission on Judicial Conduct censured her in 2004 for a history of failing to inform some defendants of their rights. She promised to change, but additional violations led to another censure by the commission last spring and a 30-day suspension by the state Supreme Court.

In the Sept. 19 primary, Eastside voters will choose among Ottinger; Frank LaSalata, a substitute judge in King County District Court; and Richard Pope, a Bellevue attorney who is making his 10th attempt at elective office. The top two candidates move on to the Nov. 7 election, unless one person receives more than 50 percent of the vote.

Ottinger says she regrets not making all the necessary changes after her first censure, an omission that "cost me dearly" professionally, personally and financially. After the commission filed new charges against her last year, she fixed her courtroom practices, ensuring that she verbally notified all defendants about her findings of probable cause and about all their rights before they made a plea.

She said she was unfairly targeted and that other local judges who serve in crowded, busy courtrooms commit the same violations. The commission agreed that her mistakes were not unique, but said they were still unacceptable.

Another blow came last week when the King County Bar Association rated her "not qualified," which is unusual for a sitting judge. The Municipal League, on the other hand, rated her "very good."

Ottinger has the support of many local prosecutors and defense attorneys and city and school officials from the Issaquah and Snoqualmie Valley areas, where she's served for more than a decade.

"I am not only fair but consistent and clear with people about what the expectations are for them to stay out of jail," she said. "I give motivation and direction for people to improve their lives."

In 1998, the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association named her Judge of the Year.

Outside the courtroom, she helped in getting a new Issaquah courthouse built, is active in Issaquah Kiwanis and Chamber of Commerce and works with local schoolchildren on legal and career issues. When she was transferred temporarily to Redmond in 2003, Issaquah and Sammamish city officials fought to get her back.

I've "worked hard ... to incorporate myself in the fabric of the Eastside community," she said.

Frank LaSalata

LaSalata is Ottinger's most serious challenger. He's been a substitute, or pro tem, judge in King County since 1998, and four of Ottinger's five fellow judges on the Eastside have endorsed him.

The King County Bar Association rated him "well qualified" and the Municipal League rated him "very good." LaSalata said his first stint as a judge, filling in for former King County District Judge J. Wesley Saint Clair in 1998, gave him his calling. "It was like I knew this was where I needed to be," LaSalata said.

Most people — whose worst infractions are traffic tickets and minor misdemeanors — experience the legal system only through district court. Handling their cases with compassion and common sense is important, LaSalata said.

"This is about people's lives," he said. "This is about the most real human drama."

LaSalata worked as an attorney while filling in as a judge in King and San Juan counties and living in Friday Harbor. He quit his practice and became a full-time substitute judge in King County in 2002 and moved to Redmond a few months later.

He says Ottinger should be removed from office because of her violations of defendants' rights and because she did not immediately improve her practices.

"To continue to make the same mistakes again after being censured once, in my opinion, says something," LaSalata said.

LaSalata had his own controversy. In 2002, a state appeals court overturned his eight-year sentence of a meth-lab operator on San Juan Island because LaSalata had a conversation about the case with a prosecutor outside the courtroom and made biased remarks during sentencing.

Another judge later sentenced the meth-lab operator to seven years in prison. LaSalata said he regrets his behavior.

Richard Pope

Since 1995, Pope has unsuccessfully run for elected office 10 times, including two campaigns for attorney general, three runs for Seattle port commissioner and one for King County assessor.

But the Bellevue attorney says he's running to win. He acknowledges he has no judicial experience, but says with a district-judge position, "most lawyers with sufficient legal and life experience would be qualified."

Pope says he's the best candidate, citing the missteps of his opponents. Ottinger's violations are "the kind of mistake a first-year law student shouldn't make," he said. And LaSalata's biased behavior in the meth case was "an incredibly bad thing" that cost taxpayers money, he said.

Pope said he continues to run for office to give voters a choice. In a port-commissioner primary race last year, he came in third with 14 percent of the vote; in 2003, he received 38 percent of the vote against County Assessor Scott Noble.

The King County Bar Association and Municipal League rated him "not qualified."

"I've always felt there was a chance and I've always had a substantial number of people voting for me, despite the obstacles," Pope said.

Ashley Bach: 206-464-2567 or abach@seattletimes.com