Commissioner Brooks, Trial for Spokane woman accused of killing ex-boyfriend delayed after defense team fails to appear | krem.com I wanted to update you on the court case we recently discussed that CFD is seemingly refusing to staff. It is a life without parole case. The alleged murder happened two years ago. There have been multiple continuances already (about 10) over past two years. I went to an afternoon hearing about a month ago in Judge High Edward’s court – as I heard the morning got feisty and wanted to witness first hand the afternoon. It was enlightening…the two Public Defenders actually showed up with their own lawyer (I assume at personal expense) to defend their actions (essentially refusing to participate in the judicial process). After that third lawyer answered a few questions she was asked to sit in the gallery by the Judge and not at the lawyer table. One public defense lawyer (Ms. Cady) was in the courtroom the other was via zoom (Ms. Wheat). They were making the case for another continuance. Very disrespectful to the Judge – especially Ms. Wheat on Zoom. Based on the back and forth between the Prosecutors side and the Public Defense side – with interjections from the Judge, the Public Defense did not make its case – they really more refused to participate in the process. In the end the judge ordered the trial to start the next week with the seating of the jury. Public Defense said they couldn’t “ethically defend the case,” so would refuse to seat a jury and would not participate in the process. They would state they were not ready and needed more time, knowing this would likely end with a mistrial. Judge High Edwards commented she has never seen lawyers work to create a mistrial. The Judge asked for Director Blumhorst to join via Zoom, Ms. Blumhorst backed up her attorneys. The whole event seemed like something in a movie – not what you would expect in a real professional setting. The Judge at one point let Ms. Cady know she was bullying the court trying to get her way. The next Monday I went to the second session of that day as I again heard the morning didn’t go as planned. That morning Ms. Cady went on FMLA so Ms. Wheat used that as a reason to again ask for a continuance (3-4 months more). When Judge High Edward asked basic questions about FMLA that Ms. Wheat could not answer she told the judge “to google it herself.” The Judge clearly let her know that was the lawyer’s responsibility not hers as a Judge. Eventually CFD Director Ms. Blumhorst asked to approach from the gallery, she did a better job of explaining FMLA – and backed Mr. Wheat’s continuance request. The Judge ruled that Ms. Wheat has been on the case as co-council preparing for 14 months and should be ready. As the Judge was reading her reasons for her ruling into the record, Ms. Wheat actually “objected to the Judge” when the Judge put on the record that a few continuances ago they promised to be ready after that previous continuance. When the Judge was done with her ruling, which included a week or two of additional time since Ms. Cady was on FMLA, Ms. Wheat again objected and spoke/yelled into the microphone the entire time the Judge was leaving the room. Again, demeaner I have never seen in a professional setting. Yesterday, I didn’t attend as I was in BoCC, but I was told that now Ms. Wheat has put in for FMLA. This likely will force the County to pay for outside council to take the case after paying Ms. Cady for almost two years to prepare and Ms. Wheat about 14 months to prepare. Incredibly frustrating, unprofessional and expensive. Jeff Jeffrey McMorris Senior Director, Finance & Administration Spokane County 1116 West Broadway Avenue, Spokane, WA 99260 Office: 509.477.2246 |Cell: 509.378.9232