Attorneys for Pierce County Prosecutor Mary Robnett said in a court filing last week that the actions of a private lawyer seeking to represent Sheriff Keith Swank in his disputes with county officials are tantamount to a misdemeanor crime, raising tensions in the ongoing legal battle.
The lawyer, Joan Mell, called the accusation defamatory in a legal response and said Robnett should be sanctioned for violating a court rule meant to prohibit misuses of the judicial system by requiring that court motions be grounded in fact.
Robnett’s description of Mell’s attempts to represent Swank as criminal came in a July 30 filing in a lawsuit against Mell that seeks a permanent injunction barring her from giving legal advice to Swank. The motion was prompted by Mell notifying Robnett via email that she would be seeking the lawsuit’s dismissal on First Amendment grounds under Washington’s Uniform Public Expression Act. That law is designed to protect free speech from being threatened by lawsuits…