PORT TOWNSEND –– Does candidate Michael Haas’ defense of a Sequim man charged with illegally growing marijuana impact his ability to be Jefferson County’s top prosecutor?
Officials with the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team, or OPNET, which led the 2009 raid of a medical marijuana grow in Discovery Bay by Haas’ client, Steve Fager, think so.
“I don’t know that I can work with him if he’s elected,” said Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict, who heads OPNET, composed of officers from several law enforcement agencies in Jefferson and Clallam counties.
“These are some serious wounds. He’s accused me of running a corrupt organization. How’s he going to fix that?” Benedict said.
Haas is challenging incumbent Scott Rosekrans to become Jefferson County prosecuting attorney in the Nov. 4 general election.
“I believe in law and order,” Haas said. “And if OPNET is willing to follow the constitution and abide by the laws of the state of Washington, I will have absolutely no problem working with them.
“I wish Sheriff Benedict would spend a little bit more time supervising his officers instead of trying to play politics in Jefferson County.”
Haas outpolled Rosekrans in the Aug. 5 primary election with 5,020 votes, or 56.83 percent, to 3,704 votes, or 41.93 percent.
Both candidates are Democrats.
“This is a last-ditch effort by Mr. Rosekrans and Sheriff Benedict because they saw the primary results and they see my campaign money is almost double his,” Haas said last week.
In October 2009, agents from OPNET raided the Discovery Bay property of Tim Fager.
Tim and Steve Fager were subsequently charged by Jefferson County with possession of marijuana with intent to manufacture and deliver and with defrauding a public utility by allegedly diverting electrical power from the Jefferson County Public Utility District.
Steve Fager, represented by Haas, also faced charges of possessing more than 40 grams of marijuana in Clallam County.
The charges were dismissed after the late Jefferson County Superior Court Judge Craddock Verser suppressed the warrant OPNET agents used to raid the Fagers’ property.
In his last ruling before he retired, Verser signed findings that declared that OPNET had shown “a reckless disregard for the truth” to obtain the warrant.
In court documents filed in defense of the Fagers and in an interview Friday, Haas strongly criticized OPNET officers for their action investigating the Fagers, saying law enforcement’s role in the investigation is a “stain on the badge of law enforcement.”
“I realize that some attorneys are given to exaggeration and overstatement defending their client(s),” Benedict said.
“However, how does Mr. Haas intend to prosecute cases from law enforcement agencies he has labeled corrupt, dishonest and referred to as Keystone Kops?”
Said Rosekrans: “You’ve got some pretty spurious claims made by Mr. Haas that could damage the working relationship between Jefferson County and OPNET.
“They have to trust you as much as you trust them.”
Haas said trust goes both ways.
“They have a pattern, particularly in the Fager case, of violating the law,” he said. “How much trust does that engender?”
Verser’s ruling has been appealed by Jefferson County and is currently before the state Court of Appeals.
Haas noted that Jefferson County would have to have somebody else work on the appeal if he is elected.
Haas also said Steve Fager’s donations to his campaign would not impact how he would prosecute if elected.
“I received contributions from an innocent man,” Haas said. “I’ve yet to see any campaign law that says there’s anything wrong with that.”
More than 38 percent of cash contributions to Haas’ campaign has come from Steve Fager.
Rosekrans said the integrity, reputation and word of prosecutors must be “beyond reproach” and said Fager’s donations to Haas’ campaign brings that into question.
“What do they expect from that?” Rosekrans asked.
Fager has contributed $1,900 to Haas’ campaign, which has received $4,940 in cash contributions and has a total value of $8,970, $4,000 of which Haas personally loaned to the campaign.
Rosekrans has a war chest of $4,335, with $1,540 of that cash contributions and $2,000 coming from a personal loan.
“Why did I contribute to Mike’s campaign?” Fager said in an email interview. “Because Jefferson County deserves better for its top law enforcement official.
“Mike is an excellent attorney but quite frankly I would have contributed to the campaign of anybody that ran against Mr. Rosekrans. In my case Mr. Rosekrans has acted as Bill Benedict and OPNET’s lackey.”
General election ballots will be mailed to registered voters Oct. 15.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.
