A Clark County Superior Court judge on Wednesday morning dismissed a motion from a defense team requesting to have the entire Clark County Prosecutor’s Office disqualified in a case against its client. The motion was made in regard to unusual circumstances surrounding the original prosecutor in the case, Laurel Smith, and her relationship with a law enforcement officer investigating the case, Sgt. James Dewey of the Vancouver Police Department.

Background of the Case

Smith, who is running unopposed for the prosecutor’s office, withdrew from being the prosecuting attorney in the state’s case against Stephen Michael Ward in June. Later that month, she acknowledged she was in a relationship with Sgt. Dewey. The defense team, led by Vancouver attorney Neil Anderson, argued that the relationship started sooner than June and that this could be a basis for disqualifying the entire office.

Cord McCabe, a senior deputy prosecuting attorney for Clark County, argued that the motion was meritless and that there is no law to support the disqualification of the entire office. Judge Robert Lewis agreed, stating that he could not find a legal basis to remove the entire office from the case.

Original reporting: Clark County Today (Vancouver WA) — read the source article.