Bite marks prove case, Schmidt says

Seven years after being arrested — and later acquitted — in a domestic-violence case, sheriff's candidate Greg Schmidt still wrestles with the incident. On Monday, about a week before the general election, he called a news conference to try to prove that he had been the victim — not the perpetrator.

Schmidt produced a report by a dental expert he hired to examine a photograph of a bite mark on his arm, compared with X-rays of his ex-wife's teeth. He claimed the report and X-ray verified his assertion that his wife was the aggressor.

Schmidt then faxed the report to King County Sheriff Sue Rahr's office, asking that his criminal record be purged, which she agreed to do.

Schmidt believes the dental X-rays were hidden from him and his defense attorney by county prosecutors and sheriff's deputies before his trial. He also believes he was falsely arrested and accused. Prosecutors and the Sheriff's Office deny the allegations.

"We stand by our arrest. There was probable cause," said sheriff's spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart.

Schmidt's ex-wife, Sherry Huff, lives out of state and could not be reached for comment,

In 1998, Huff told police that Schmidt pulled her down the stairs by her finger and put her in a chokehold until she bit him in self-defense.

But Schmidt insists his wife bit him when he told her he was divorcing her. During the trial, after a grueling day of testimony, Huff wrote to the judge asking that her testimony not be used because it might not be entirely truthful, although she did not recant her version of the story. It took the Renton District Court jury less than an hour to acquit Schmidt.

But afterward, he asked prosecutors to charge Huff with assault. When they declined, he filed a lawsuit against King County prosecutors, the deputies involved in his arrest and his ex-wife. The suit was dismissed in May 2002.

Schmidt maintains that even though he was acquitted, he was treated like a pariah at work, refused promotions and switched from the domestic-violence unit. During this campaign, he has had a difficult time moving beyond the past allegations although Rahr has not raised the issue during her campaign.

Schmidt's campaign Web site links to the original trial documents, the new dental expert's report and reviews the incident. The account refers to Huff as an abuser.

"As the sheriff, if I learn of a case where the evidence is hidden, I will investigate it. I will not shun them. I will look at it," he said.

Nancy Bartley: 206-464-8522 or nbartley@seattletimes.com