Kent judge says ethics chief sabotaged Wulle's re-election bid

A Kent-area judge disciplined in 2010 for trying to influence the Amanda Knox murder trial in Italy has accused the head of a state judicial ethics agency of misconduct, including sabotaging Clark County Judge John Wulle's re-election bid.

In a Jan. 3 letter to the Washington Supreme Court, King County Superior Court Judge Michael Heavey accused Reiko Callner of violating her role as executive director of the Washington Commission on Judicial Conduct by spearheading an investigation of Wulle and then manipulating the media to help shatter Wulle's re-election bid.

He said the behavior is part of pattern of Callner's interference in due process for judges accused of misconduct.

"Commission powers have been usurped by Ms. Callner and have been wrongfully used to campaign against a sitting judge running for re-election," Heavey wrote. "The members of the commission have acquiesced in this highly unprofessional action."

Callner denied the accusations and said they appeared to be retaliation for the commission's September 2010 discipline of him. Heavey was admonished for using his office to advocate for Knox, his daughter's friend. He sent letters on Knox's behalf written on his court stationery to judges in Italy and other officials, according to commission documents.

"Judge Heavey is on a kind of personal campaign against me," Callner said Thursday in a phone interview with The Columbian.

In a telephone interview Thursday, Wulle said he wasn't consulted about the complaint, but Heavey had asked his attorney, Josephine Townsend, about his case.

As executive director, Callner is not allowed to initiate investigations against judges. Only the commission — a panel of 11 members charged with investigating complaints against other judges — may initiate an investigation, and they must vote to do so. Judges, attorneys and citizens make up the panel.

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Kent judge says ethics chief sabotaged Wulle's re-election bid