His first morning on the Pierce County Superior Court bench was quiet, but by Monday afternoon, Judge Michael A. Hecht was presiding over his first trial.
The case – a dispute over a commercial lease – is scheduled to run for six days. For the moment, it ends the prospect of a judge with nothing to do.
Hecht, 58, faces allegations that he patronized prostitutes in Tacoma and threatened one of them last fall. He has not been charged with a crime – through his attorney, Wayne Fricke, he denies any criminal activity – but Tacoma police are investigating, and will forward their findings to the state Attorney General’s Office.
While that inquiry continues, Pierce County prosecutors refuse to argue criminal and civil cases before Hecht. That decision took official shape early Monday. Two cases, one criminal, one civil, were sent to Hecht’s courtroom by presiding Judge Brian Chushcoff, who assigns calendars for the county’s 22 judges.
County prosecutors promptly filed affidavits of prejudice. The cases would go elsewhere. Hecht accepted the forms quietly. The courtroom emptied.
“Oh, disappointing,” Hecht told his judicial assistant, Michelle Evans. “They can do it as a matter of right,” he added, before returning to his chambers.
The ritual won’t be repeated, said Gerry Horne, Pierce County prosecutor. Though court rules technically call for affidavits on each case assigned to Hecht, the message sent by the first two should be clear.
“We’ve been informed that once it’s shown that we’re going to affidavit him, they’re not going to make us file a bunch of affidavits,” Horne said Monday.
Relief came in the afternoon with the trial on the lease dispute, now more than two years old, finally launched. Private attorneys on both sides, no county lawyers, no affidavits, just a good old-fashioned breach-of-contract case.
“We’ll be rolling in the morning,” Evans said.
Sean Robinson: 253-597-8486
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