Seattle Escorts: What’s next? Hecht’s future depends on how laws are interpreted
What’s next? Hechts future depends on how laws are interpreted
By SEAN ROBINSON; The News Tribune
Published: 10/28/09 8:48 pm
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Michael Hecht, found guilty of a felony for harassing a prostitute, will keep collecting his public paycheck for the moment.
That was the only certainty Wednesday, after a guilty verdict sent state and local legal analysts to their law books, searching for the answer to a straightforward question: When a judge is convicted of a crime, what happens?
There was little consensus. The debate boiled down to state law versus the state constitution.
The state attorney generals office took one position, citing state law that supported Hechts swift removal from the bench. The specific law is RCW 42.12.010, which states an elected office becomes vacant when the officeholder is convicted of a crime.
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