Defense attorney and deputy prosecutor vie for judicial seat in county’s busiest court

The race for an open judge’s seat in Pierce County’s busiest court pits a 15-year deputy prosecutor against a private attorney with 25 years of experience working in criminal defense and civil cases, in addition to a stint as a deputy prosecutor.

Voters will decide Nov. 6 whether Tim Lewis, 42, or Lizanne Padula, 52, will take over Position 3, the seat vacated by retiring District Court Judge Frank Dacca.

Lewis currently leads the prosecutor’s major crimes team, which handles drug offenses and property crimes. In 2016, he applied to become a judge in Lakewood Municipal Court, but fell short. He also submitted his name for another open District Court seat earlier this year. County Council members instead chose deputy prosecutor Lloyd Oaks.

Lewis said he’s running to pursue a chance that might not come again for some time.

“I thought it was a great opportunity, but I was a little bit concerned that if I didn’t seize it, it might not come back,” he said. “It’s really the face of our legal system.”

Padula has worked largely in private practice on the defense and civil side in recent years, chiefly in King County. She started her career as a deputy prosecutor on the Olympic Peninsula, and briefly served as a reserve police officer in Bainbridge Island.

“I’ve thought for a long time about being a judge,” she said. “I love being an attorney. I love trial work, and I love helping people, but over the years I’ve just gone in front of so many judges that don’t get it. I’ve seen a lack of humanity, a lack of insight, a lack of perspective.”

Both candidates have donned judicial robes at times. Padula has served as a pro tem judge in Pierce County District Court and Kitsap County District Court. Lewis has done pro tem work in municipal courts in Bremerton, Buckley and Gig Harbor.

The district court is a high-volume venue: a local conduit for traffic violations, small claims, misdemeanors and other services. The court’s eight judges handled more than 62,000 cases in 2017, almost twice the number filed in Superior Court, the venue for criminal and major civil cases.

District Court judges also oversee criminal misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor cases. They serve four-year terms, and receive an annual salary of about $164,000.

Lewis started his prosecutorial career handling District Court cases in Pierce County. He said one challenge, if elected, will be to set aside some of the instincts he’s honed in criminal cases.

“Any time you put on that robe, you really need to be telling yourself you are not an advocate anymore,” he said. “You are not arguing for one side or the other. You seek to understand before you’re seeking to be understood. You’re understanding the arguments not only of the city or the county, but also the respondent, the defendant. If anything I tend to err on the side of favoring the defense because I am concerned about that appearance of that bias and favoritism.”

Padula, referring to her pro tem experience, said Pierce County’s emphasis on therapeutic and alternative courts represents a creative approach to diverting defendants to guided reformation.

“I think of it as carrot and stick,” she said. “A carrot to motivate: If you don’t get the hint and get motivated and start reaching for that carrot, metaphorically speaking, you’re gonna get walloped on the rear end by the stick. Nobody wants to be an addict. Nobody wants to have their life ripped apart by domestic violence. For the most part, regular people that just mess up, they want to get back on track. That’s what the therapeutic courts do. We’re not just processing everybody like they’re paint-by-number portraits.”

Lewis also counts local therapeutic courts as a plus.

“The person is not going to get any better in the Pierce County Jail,” he said. “For me, incarceration’s really a measure of last resort. Also, it’s partly economics. Jail is one of the greatest drains on the county’s budget. To the extent that we can avoid using incarceration, I think it makes good fiscal sense.”

From a campaign-finance standpoint, Padula has an edge on Lewis. She’s raised about $79,000 for the race, while Lewis has raised less than $14,000. She was rated “exceptionally well qualified” by the Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association. (Lewis, a former member of the association’s judicial qualifications committee, did not seek a rating from the group.)

Padula picked up numerous endorsements from judges in the county and the state, including Dacca, who held the spot she hopes to win. Her backers include Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards and state Rep. Laurie Jinkins.

Lewis has his share of legal endorsements, led by Pierce County Superior Court Judge Helen Whitener. Among elected officials, his backers include Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier and County Councilman Rick Talbert.

Asked what makes him a better choice than his opponent, Lewis emphasized his local roots and knowledge of the local court system.

“I have greater experience in the Pierce County District Court,” he said. “I tend to think I have kind of the hometown advantage if you will. I’ve been living here for over 15 years. I think that’s important because I think I have a better understanding of the community the court serves.”

Asked the same question, Padula underlined the breadth of her experience.

“(Lewis) knows what it’s like to advocate for victims,” she said. “I know what it’s like too, but that’s not where my experience stops. I know what it’s like to be with someone who made one mistake, and they’ve destroyed their life. I know what it’s like to be the prosecutor arguing these things, and I know what it’s like to be the defense attorney. I have a lot of different perspectives, not just one.”