PORT ANGELES — The attorney for Rhonda Goudie, a former assisted-living facility owner convicted of stealing $7,000 from a patient with dementia, is seeking to have the case dismissed.
Attorney Karen Unger filed a motion Feb. 7 in Clallam County Superior Court to dismiss the case — four months after Goudie was convicted of two counts of first-degree theft and one count of money laundering — over claims that the county Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has been much more lenient on other people charged with similar crimes.
In her claim of selective prosecution, Unger cites three other cases, including two added to the motion Friday.
Like the one against her client, the three cases involved people accused of embezzling money at the workplace.
They are:
■ Teresa Lee Rodocker, charged last year with one count of first-degree theft and two counts of forgery for alledgedly stealing $7,217 Camp Fire USA Juan de Fuca Council while she was executive director.
She agreed to participate in a 36-month diversion program last month in exchange for having the charges dropped and reimbursing the organization.
■ Karianne Marie Minks, charged with second-degree theft and forgery in 2008 for allegedly stealing $1,248 from the city of Port Angeles by forging her manager’s signature on city-issued petty-cash receipts while acting as a volunteer for the Future Rider Cheerleaders.
She also entered a diversion program that required her to perform community service and reimburse the city in exchange for charges being dropped.
■ Eva Lee Wolf, charged with the first-degree theft in 2008 of about $15,000 from Country Care Vet Services where she worked as the office manager. She accepted a plea offer that included no jail time but required her to reimburse the organization.
Prison time
Unger argued that prosecutors shouldn’t be seeking prison time against her client if they didn’t in the other cases, particularly since Goudie repaid the $21,000 that police said she overcharged Truman Curry, a tenant of Olympic RN Homecare, before she was charged in court.
Williams, citing insufficient evidence, only convicted her of stealing $7,000 and acquitted her on four other counts of first-degree theft.
“How can you do that [not seek prison time] with these other cases?” Unger asked. “How is she worse than these other cases?”
County Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly called the motion “ridiculous.”
“Ms. Unger has selective recollection, if you will, about cases or is making a selective comparison,” she said.
‘Selective recollection’
Kelly pointed to other similar cases in which the defendant was sentenced to prison.
One case involved the former president of the Stevens Middle School Parent Teacher Organization, Timothy Derwent Walsh, who was sentenced to six months in jail for stealing $3,500 from the organization and attempting to steal an additional $12,069.
He was sentenced last November after pleading guilty to one count of first-degree theft and two counts of attempted first-degree theft.
Goudie faces up to 10 years in prison for theft and 10 years for money laundering.
Her standard sentencing range allows her to be sentenced to up to nine months in jail, but Judge Ken Williams has the authority to sentence her for a longer term since she was found to have violated a position of trust.
Unger’s motion to dismiss the case will be heard March 3.
Her motion to dismiss the money laundering conviction on the basis of double jeopardy has not been heard in court.
The state Department of Social and Health Services, which notified police of the overpayments, closed Olympic RN Homecare in June 2009.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
