Top prosecutor cited for DUI after Selah car accident
Yakima Herald-Republic
YAKIMA, Wash. â€" Kittitas County prosecutors have tentatively agreed to handle the drunken driving case against Yakima County Prosecutor Jim Hagarty.
Prosecutors in the two counties frequently handle potential conflict-of-interest cases for each other, Yakima County Chief Criminal Deputy Ken Ramm said Wednesday.
"I've asked them if they would be willing to take the case, and they've indicated they could handle it," he said, adding that Hagarty's counterpart in Ellensburg, Greg Zempel, was in trial Wednesday and had not formally approved the plan.
Hagarty's arrest after a minor collision in Selah on Tuesday night raised several sticky procedural problems for local authorities as well as accountability questions for one of the county's top elected officials.
Hagarty, 61, was taken into custody after he rear-ended another motorist on South First Street about 7:15 p.m. Hagarty lives in Selah. No injuries were reported.
A spokesman for the Washington State Patrol, which made the arrest, said Hagarty was issued a DUI citation after taking a breathalyzer test at the Yakima County jail.
The State Patrol refused to immediately release the results of the test.
Reached on his cellphone Wednesday morning, Hagarty initially declined to comment or answer questions regarding how the arrest will affect his job and the prosecutor's office.
Hours later he released a statement via email apologizing for his arrest.
"I sincerely regret this unfortunate incident, and am thankful that no one was injured," he said, adding "I regret the lack of appropriate judgment made by me in this situation."
In his statement, Hagarty stressed he wasn't booked into the county jail but had been released to the custody of his attorney, whom he did not name.
He said he was taken to the jail only because the breathalyzer machine at the State Patrol offices in Union Gap was not working.
Hagarty said he is "ready to accept responsibility and the consequences of my actions," but did not elaborate.
"Please do not let my personal mistake diminish the hard work and successes of the members of the Prosecuting Attorney's Office," his statement said. "They work hard each day to make Yakima County a better place."
The county's four District Court judges immediately recused themselves from hearing the case and are seeking appointment of a judge from Kittitas County, said Yakima County court consultant Harold Delia.
Drunken driving cases are usually handled at the District Court level.
As the county's elected prosecuting attorney, Hagarty is on a peer level with other elected county officials such as Sheriff Ken Irwin and cannot be disciplined by the Board of Commissioners.
It is unlikely he will voluntarily step down. Unlike some elected prosecutors, Hagarty personally handles a busy criminal trial caseload, including the prosecution of Kevin Harper, who is accused killing three people at their Falcon Ridge home wet of Yakima.
A former federal prosecutor and Klickitat County prosecutor in Goldendale, Hagarty became Yakima County's top prosecutor in December 2008 after the county commission picked him to replace the retiring Ron Zirkle.
Since then Hagarty has won two elections, including a 72 percent landslide last year that won him a full four-year term through 2014.
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