Judge's case confirms TNT's mission

It seems the whole South Sound was fascinated the past couple of weeks by the trial of Pierce County Superior Court Judge Michael Hecht.

He was eventually convicted Wednesday of the misdemeanor offense of buying sex from a male prostitute and of felony harassment for threatening to kill a different prostitute if he didn’t stop talking about having sex with him.

Isn’t it frequently the case in American politics that the cover-up gets you in a lot more trouble than the original crime? And that the miscreants are most often focused not on their own misdeeds, but on preventing anyone from pointing them out?

In this matter, the original offense was a misdemeanor (buying sex from somebody). That’s bad enough, and certain misdemeanors might eventually get a judge punished or thrown out by the state Supreme Court. But if you want to make it absolutely certain you’ll get thrown out of office, commit a felony.

And, of course, the quintessential line from the trial was Hecht’s contention that he’d visited the Mecca Theater, a porno movie house, hundreds of times, but only for the delicious chicken soup dispensed by a vending machine. Never for other purposes.

My wife, who should have been a reporter, asked me the question no one asked Hecht but should have: “So why did he go there the FIRST time?”

I was also fascinated by Hecht’s statement after the conviction. He continued to say he was innocent and accused a private investigator (the son of the Superior Court judge he unseated last year) and a Tacoma police detective of conspiring to coerce testimony from four male prostitutes who testified Hecht had paid them for sex.

He added this: “Complicating the matter was the one-sided, unfair reporting by Adam Lynn of the TNT newspaper and, at the very beginning, the creation of this ridiculous story and putting everything out there for the public.”

I can say only two things about that. One, the reporting wasn’t one-sided or unfair. Every side we could find was explored in our reporting, including, of course, Hecht’s. And everybody’s version of events – Hecht’s, the prostitutes’, other sources’ and witnesses’ – was subject to equal scrutiny and skeptical inquiry.

And, two, we didn’t create the facts that were the foundation of our stories or the court case. Michael Hecht did. That they turned out to be damning – in print and in court – is his responsibility, not ours.

But I would like to thank him for nicely summarizing the mission of a good newspaper: “putting everything out there for the public.” That’s pretty much our job description.

At the end, Hecht missed perhaps the central lesson he might have learned from this sordid little drama he launched. Even after the trial, and the shame he brought on himself and his office, he was angry not at himself for the things he did, but still venomous toward anyone who would expose him.

Dave Zeeck: 253-597-8554

david.zeeck@thenewstribune.com