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King County reaches deal in Vashon Island records case

King County will pay a $125,000 settlement to a Vashon Island couple who alleged county officials improperly withheld public records including a letter they say was probably written by the wife of a county employee, an environmental regulator.

The county will "certainly learn a lesson from this regarding how seriously to take public records," said David Vogel, attorney for Bill and Susan Tobin, a Vashon couple who battled the county for six years after the letter alleged they had illegally remodeled their home.

The deal, signed by the Tobins last week, notes the agreement is a "compromise and is not to be construed as an admission of liability" by the county.

But John Starbard, director of the agency embroiled in the controversy, said the settlement is a "huge lesson" about properly handling public records. However, Starbard suggested penalties for violations of the state records law may be too steep.

Is the letter that sparked the lawsuit, he asked, "really worth $125,000 worth of the public's money?"

At the center of the strange case is an anonymous letter a county employee, Greg Wessel, said he received about improper building on the Tobins' property. After hiring handwriting analysts, the Tobins suspected Wessel's wife wrote the letter.

The dispute dates back to 2005, when the Tobins were trying to close a deal to sell their Vashon house. On April 19, they were visited by Wessel, who worked for the county's Department of Development and Environmental Services (DDES).

According to the facts laid out in a decision by the county hearing examiner in 2007, Wessel said he had received an anonymous complaint that the Tobins had remodeled their house without proper permits.

Anxious about their impending sale, the Tobins allowed Wessel to inspect their property. Wessel then told the Tobins he'd have to refer the case to enforcement officers as a likely code violation.

A subsequent county order said the Tobins had to obtain permits or demolish non-permitted construction. The Tobins appealed and asked to see the anonymous complaint.

The Risk You Take When Giving Your DNA ... - County Court Records

Incoming students at UC Berkeley found cotton swabs in their welcome packages. The university wants students to voluntarily swab a few cells from the insides of their cheeks and give them to the university for DNA testing. A professor of Genetics and Development Biology who’s overseeing the project, swears he’s not trying to create a genetic database of thousands of undergraduates for any nefarious purpose. “Really, what nefarious purpose could there possibly be?” Really? If you’re arrested for a felony in California, expect to give up a DNA sample.

 Police departments are storing genetic samples from adults arrested for felonies, whether they go on to charge those people or not. The FBI and other states now collect DNA samples from immigrants who are detained, and some states store genetic samples from people found guilty of misdemeanors.

In Orange County, California, the District Attorney’s Office will dismiss a simple misdemeanor charge, like possession of marijuana, if you give them your DNA sample.

The intent is to create a large genetic database that will allow police to solve more crimes, but critics say the cumulative effect may be unconstitutional. Criminal justice experts

Law enforcement agencies argue that taking genetic samples is akin to routine fingerprinting. The Department of State Health Services gave 800 anonymous blood samples to the Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab to help create a national DNA database. I heard people say it’s only used to find criminals and if you don’t commit crimes you have nothing to worry about. Wrong! Here are actual cases where a person was not the perpetrator but in some cases agreed to plea because the attorney said that DNA is infallible.

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In a homicide case, a Settle lab cross-contamination likely occurred when the contaminated work surface was used while testing a blood sample from a convicted felon during training. Next DNA analyst who used work station noticed contamination in chemical solution that is not supposed to contain DNA.

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