39 Replies to "West Seattle judge accused of rule-breaking re: Amanda Knox"

• Intelligent Person June 8, 2010 (2:11 pm)

  Heaven forbid any one sticks up for Amanda Knox. Just because she is innocent should not influence the good folks that love to hate and consistantly spread false rumors and outright lies to influence anyone and everyone they can. That is just fine if THEY do it. Judge Heavy should get a medal for putting his name and any influence he has to do the right thing for this innocent girl being held in prison by a prosecutor with too much influence and not enough intelligence.

• Mary H. June 8, 2010 (2:17 pm)

  Judge Heavey is one of the very few Americans in public office who have taken the initiative to speak out against the violation of human and civil rights of a U.S. citizen traveling abroad. It is sad that he may be penalized for it, but if this news story brings more attention to the wrongful imprisonment of Amanda Knox, he will have done his job as a guardian of justice.

• Sarah June 8, 2010 (3:22 pm)

  While I do not think Amanda Knox recieved a fair trial, breaking the law is breaking the law. We cannot make exceptions for some that break the law and not others. I applaud Judge Heavey for showing his support in Amanda Knox’s case but he should have found a way to do it without breaking the law.

• shane June 8, 2010 (3:34 pm)

  What disturbs me is that it appears he used King County property and staff for personal use.

• dsa June 8, 2010 (4:44 pm)

  He had little to no personal gain. This needs to be dismissed. Mike should be thanked for his effort.

• Mama o\' four June 8, 2010 (5:21 pm)

  oh! disturbing! he “used” tax payers money and resources! please just relax. He showed compassion to someone he believed needed help. It is not always about us, tax payers enjoying our lives in freedom, at home.

• Joe June 8, 2010 (5:43 pm)

  Judicial misconduct is OK as long as it’s in support of the side of the law you’re on? Do you people not see that as a disturbing precedent?

  If an Italian judge sympathetic to the girl who was killed did the same thing in support of Amanda’s _guilt_, you would be screaming about how he/she was abusing their power to influence the case.

• Justice For All June 8, 2010 (5:43 pm)

  He should be suspended without pay pending an
  inquiry and if found guilty he should be barred from practicing all activities that would require legal expertise, such as being a judge, attorney, legal adviser of any kind.

  Perverting the cause of justice is not a minor matter.

• Justice For All June 8, 2010 (5:52 pm)

  The embassy monitored murderess Amanda Knox’s trial and have been satisfied with the trial proceedings and the equitable verdict.

  I also am satisfied that Amanda Knox received justice, even though I believe she should have received the maximum sentence given the excessive violence involved.

  I am looking forward to the slender trials of both Amanda Knox and her parents.

  They made claims which might be false and they are given the privilege to prove their case.

  I expect them to prove that their claims were false like many of the claims disseminated by the paid for PR organization.

  In regard to Heavey, if he broke the law, he needs to be dealt with.

• Justice For All June 8, 2010 (5:54 pm)

  Some people in Seattle seem to think that the law applies only to the lower socio-economic groups.

  It is high time that those who think they are above the law are made an example of.

  Throw the book at them.

• Justice For All June 8, 2010 (6:00 pm)

  With Joran Van Der Sloot it is not proven that he killed Natally Holloway, however with Amanda Knox there is not the slightest doubt.

  The overwhelming evidence against Amanda Knox is conclusive.

  I do not expect her appeal to result in a not guilty verdict.

  Amanda Knox was unanimously found guilty of the murder of Meredith Kercher.

  I have no sympathy at all for people who support the anti-social members of society.

  The world would be a better place if all the anti-socials where lock up.

• Justice For All June 8, 2010 (6:04 pm)

  Heavey is entitled to have his opinion and make his opinion know, as a private individual.

  Heavey is not entitled to misuse his office and break the law.

  I am glad that he will have to answer for the despicable crime that is alleged.

  The law is for everyone including Heavey and Knox!

• Justice For All June 8, 2010 (6:12 pm)

  Mama o\’ four,

  Don’t you find it disturbing that he is trying to get a proven murderer, who happened to be a former classmate of his child to walk free and potentially murder again.

  The case of Joran Van Der Sloot comes to mind.

  You don’t want sociopaths roaming the streets freely, they can’t help themselves, they enjoy murdering and do it for as long as they have opportunity to do so. Hence they need to be lock up.

  .

  “oh! disturbing! he “used” tax payers money and resources! please just relax. He showed compassion to someone he believed needed help. It is not always about us, tax payers enjoying our lives in freedom, at home.

  Comment by Mama o\’ four”

• Carson June 8, 2010 (6:38 pm)

  “If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime”

  Baretta

  Her only hope is W overturns the 22nd Amendment, gets elected to a third term and decides to invade another sovereign nation and install American laws in yet another country that wants nothing to do with us. In other words, pray for a Pardon.

• Kayleigh June 8, 2010 (6:42 pm)

  Not sure which is more unbelievable: that Heavey actually tried to influence the trial or that some people think it’s OK.

• Garden_nymph June 8, 2010 (8:16 pm)

  The Canons of the Code of Judicial Conduct appear pretty straight forward. Judge Heavey clearly knew he was violating them and should be disciplined accordingly. He had no right to use King County resources and personnel to voice his personal and professional opinion on the matter. Personally, I think she is guilty and it sounds like he is too! Intelligent Person, she was unanimously convicted by a jury. Judge Heavey shouldn’t get a medal; he abused the power of his position and spent my tax dollars doing it. A Superior Court Judge is not above the law he swore to uphold and administer.

• bleebah June 8, 2010 (8:43 pm)

  A big “Duhhhh”, what was he thinking?

• Paul C June 8, 2010 (8:44 pm)

  What really disturbs me is that The Seattle Times would allow “stationary” instead of “stationery”. Proofreading wizards.

• Garden_nymph June 8, 2010 (8:48 pm)

  Mary H. “Judge Heavey is one of the very few Americans in public office who have taken the initiative to speak out against the violation of human and civil rights of a U.S. citizen traveling abroad.” News flash-Amanda Knox was found guilty of murder, sexual assault and obstruction of justice. If Americans can’t abide by the laws of other countries, they shouldn’t travel! It sounds like the guards have treated Amanda well, holding her while she cried, braiding her hair, etc. We don’t hear that kind of treatment of prisoners convicted of murder here in the U.S. The belief that Americans traveling abroad should not be held accountable for their actions is perpetuating the “Ugly American” stereotype that taints those of us who would like to experience the world and can follow the laws of the countries we travel to. I didn’t realize that as a U.S. citizen it is my human and civil right to murder, sexually assault and obstruct justice! Do you feel the same way about Americans who travel to Thailand to have sex with minors?!

• Shane June 8, 2010 (9:59 pm)

  Mamma, I suppose then, you would be ok with this Judge using King County staff and resources to support the pending lawsuit against healthcare reform? Bet there would be all sorts of outrage from you if he used taxpayer resources on that.

• uh? June 8, 2010 (10:09 pm)

  I still want to know why an innocent person would need a PR firm.

• (required) June 8, 2010 (10:59 pm)

  Everyone should let the WCJC proceedings run their course before jumping to conclusions about whether Judge Heavey breached his obligations under the ethical rules governing judges. While it is troubling that a judge who presumably wasn’t present in the Italian court to hear all the testimony and evidence presented allegedly may have improperly used public resources to offer personal opinions — worse yet, allegedly to sway the outcome of the Italian proceedings, I think a lot of us feel that the Amanda Knox case and its result is singularly shocking. But until Judge Heavey’s case is resolved, let’s remember that he is a good man and a good judge before we jump to any other conclusions.

• MousePotato June 9, 2010 (12:19 am)

  Garden_Nymph,

  “Do you feel the same way about Americans who travel to Thailand to have sex with minors?!”

  Um, only if I know them and they are a friend to my daughter. If so I will do everything I can to abuse my power and position to proclaim their innocence and try to get them off without having to pay for their crimes.

  C’mon, she’s American. She only has to follow American rules which trump those of any country we travel to….

  Comments made by people like Mary H. absolutely make my skin crawl….

• MousePotato June 9, 2010 (12:34 am)

  Response to (required)’s statement:

  “But until Judge Heavey’s case is resolved, let’s remember that he is a good man and a good judge before we jump to any other conclusions.”

  Actually, he’s a below average judge that has typically ranked at the bottom of his profession:

  (from Seattle Times)

  “During the King County Bar Association’s most recent survey of Superior Court judges, released in January 2008, Heavey ranked near the bottom of the list. The survey, done every four years, rated judges based on legal decision-making; demeanor, temperament and communication; administrative skills; and integrity and impartiality.”

  I don’t know what kind of MAN he is but as far as his JUDGMENT goes, he doesn’t quite measure up to ‘good’….

• wsnative June 9, 2010 (12:48 am)

  Wrong is never right

• Kayleigh June 9, 2010 (7:34 am)

  Um, (required), some of us *didn’t* feel that the Amanda Knox case was “singularly shocking”. In fact, some of us weren’t surprised at the verdict at all, but instead continue to be surprised at Amanda’s apologists and increasingly irrational defenders.

• Meghan June 9, 2010 (7:50 am)

  Wow, some of you really are mean-spirited. Did you follow the Knox case at all??? As experts from all over the world have pointed out repeatedly, there simply wasn’t any actual forensic evidence that she murdered her roommate! It was all based on speculation. I absolutely adore Italy as a culture and as a vacation destination, but their legal system is really very antiquated. The prosecuter was under indictment for gross violations even as her tried her case! Miscarriages of justice happen all over the world every day, so don’t assume she is guilty just because she was found guilty. When her conviction is overturned, what will you all say then?? As for Heavey, he was obviously well intentioned, but he broke the law, so he’ll have to pay the price. Hopefully his entire career won’t be destroyed over one lapse of judgment.

• Carson June 9, 2010 (8:50 am)

  Meghan,

  Most of us followed the case, it was tough to avoid. I am also going to guess that not many of us understand the Italian legal system, which is nothing like ours. Amanda might be a sweet young lady, she might even be innocent, but when you travel to another country you become subject to the laws of that country. She should have watched “Midnight Express” before she left America.

• Monkey Brains June 9, 2010 (9:24 am)

  Meghan,
  While the legal system in Italy may be antiquated by your standards, you may want to pause to reflect on how our more “progressive” and “fresh(?)” legal system can let people like OJ Simpson be free to walk the streets and how countless people are now being freed due to DNA evidence that shows that our “wonderful” system imprisoned the wrong people for, in some cases, decades.
  .
  I wasn’t there so I can not say whether she is guilty or innocent (unlike so many people that write in about her). I can say that I have lived in both the US and in Italy and our mantra was always that the way things work in Italy aren’t wrong, they’re just different. This mantra helped prevent us from looking like the stereotypical ugly americans.
  .
  Amanda Knox was found guilty. I do not blame her family for trying everything in their power to get their daughter back. I don’t disagree that many people are very passionate about her guilt or innocence and that some comments are quite mean-spirited but in Europe the prevailing thought was that the real victim in this case is dead and Amanda Knox has been convicted of killing her.
  .
  It’s difficult to fathom why a local judge thought a letter written on government stationery would have ANY influence on the case after the millions of words that have already been written about her plight.

• furor scribendi June 9, 2010 (9:28 am)

  Amanda’s case is a perfect example of base human failings, ignorance of facts by parochial observers (Amanda apologists) and the abuse of power by those deluded enough to think their opinions count beyond the border of their power (Heavey). No one wins, but no one loses more than the family of Meredith Kercher who somehow always is never mentioned in discussions such as this.

• Mary Heuman June 9, 2010 (12:22 pm)

  Getting back to Mike Heavey, I’m disturbed to learn he used official staionery and made the statements he did while iding himself as a judge. Whatever our opinions on Ms. Knox and her case may be, his efforts should have been as a private citizen and not in an offical capacity. I can’t wait to see his reply.

  May Meredith Kercher rest in peace.

• Mary H. June 9, 2010 (3:39 pm)

  Monkey Brains wrote: “It’s difficult to fathom why a local judge thought a letter written on government stationery would have ANY influence on the case after the millions of words that have already been written about her plight.”

  He didn’t write it after the millions of words that have already been written — he wrote it long before. He was trying to prevent the trial from unfolding the way it did, that is, unduly influenced by prejudice and manipulation of information and evidence by the proseuction.

  He wrote as one legal colleague to his peers, using legal language and due respect. There was no rational reason why the people he wrote to chose to ignore his objections.

• Monkey Brains June 9, 2010 (4:09 pm)

  I stand corrected but it also appears his judgement may have been better and now, it appears, he’ll also stand corrected.
  .
  I must admit that as I was walking the streets of Perugia I could not get my mind off the tragic events that unfolded around a fellow West Seattleite regardless of level of participation, guilt or innocence.
  .
  I still can’t figure out how a person that was not there could have an opinion other than providing information as a character witness. Perhaps that is what he did. In that case it is appropriate to provide character references on personal letterhead but not as a representative of our judicial system on government stationery.

• shane June 9, 2010 (7:26 pm)

  “In that case it is appropriate to provide character references on personal letterhead but not as a representative of our judicial system on government stationery.”
  EXACTLY!

• D.C. June 9, 2010 (9:50 pm)

  “Experts from all over the world have pointed out repeatedly, there simply wasn’t any actual forensic evidence that she murdered her roommate!”
  .
  This is a well known syndrome called the “CSI Effect.” Once all the forensic shows started becoming popular, it became harder to prosecute criminals because juries began expecting unrealistic super-forensic evidence for everything.
  .
  People are convincted on circumstancial evidence all the time. The belief that forensic evidence is needed to convict is a recent urban myth.

• Nancy Drew June 9, 2010 (10:11 pm)

  Judge Heavy’s choice of using official letterhead does speak to the same arrogance towards the Italian justice system that some of Ms. Knox’s supporters have also shown. They seem to think that Italy is some sort of third-world nation where a panel of judges considering a case that has the World’s attention would really be interested in the opinion of a county judge? We really have a rather inflated opinion of ourselves sometimes. Do remember that Amanda isn’t the only one cooling her jets in gaol right now. Her boyfriend, who was an Italian of very good family and was represented by one of Italy’s best attorneys is a long-term resident of the ‘graybar hotel’ as well. Do you really think the Italians would throw one of their own under the bus just to tweak Uncle Sam’s nose? The silence of our State Dept. is pretty deafening, too.

  Look, I wasn’t there. I can’t say with certainty whether AK did it or not. But a jury and a panel of judges who knew full well that the eyes of the World, not just Italia, were on them, concluded unanimously on a verdict. I understand Amanda’s family’s disappointment, but this is just another example of how their PR campaign backfired in their face badly, and should serve as a cautionary fable to anyone who looks at Europe as little more than a theme park for irresponsible Americans.

• WSB June 9, 2010 (11:07 pm)

  Just a rules note: Trying to speculate on a commenter’s identity is off-limits. We have specifically chosen the path of not requiring people to identify themselves, modeled after the best public discourse we ever see – at F2F public meetings, where you also are not required to state your name before stating your opinion … thanks.

• MousePotato June 9, 2010 (11:52 pm)

  While I agree that asking someone to personally identify themselves may be dangerous, there are MANY posts that go un-refracted that ask if someone is affiliated with the establishment under scrutiny. With a restaurant (rant) post there are the occasional posts (usually all in caps) that say “I LOVE THIS PLACE. IT’S THE BEST PLACE I’VE EVER EATEN. I WOULD DIE AN EXTRA DAY FOR THEIR FROG CREAM SOUP!” People accuse them of being involved with the establishment but their posts remain.

  Talk politics and suddenly everyone is protected.

  Judge Heavey has a personal relationship with Amanda Knox and should be removed from his position for abusing his power to support her.

  Guilty or not….

  • WSB June 10, 2010 (1:08 am)

    If you mean in the forums, Mouse, and there’s something you think breaks the rules, please click the “report this post” link and a flag goes to us to review. Because the news is the priority on the site, news comments are virtually all read by us, but the forums are a reader-to-reader section and we might not see something unless it gets flagged.

Sorry, comment time is over.