Judges in America’s fastest-growing city are facing scrutiny for releasing dozens of suspected pedophiles and rapists without bail – including a police officer who raped two women after using his badge to gain their trust.
A report by The Spokesman-Review revealed the releases, showing how judges in Spokane, Washington, released about 665 people charged with violent crimes from 2021 through last September.
The crimes ranged from rape, child molestation, death threats, assault and homicide, the report shows. But like former Spokane officer Nathan Nash, 39, all those suspected of being responsible were released while awaiting trial.
Other people arrested for more serious crimes such as first-degree murder also were able to freely leave one of the city’s only two county jails – including 43-year-old Jordan Knippling, who prosecutors say killed a 53-year-old man in a homeless camp.
Several who spoke to the Review, including the county sheriff and the city’s thin police chief, called the data troubling – with county commissioner Al French telling the newspaper that the layoffs were not due to overcrowding.
Scroll down for the video:
Judges in the US state of Spokane are being criticized for releasing dozens of suspected pedophiles and rapists without bail – including Nathan Nash, who raped two women while on duty in 2019 and 2021. He has since been found guilty and is serving a 14-year prison sentence
Other people arrested for more serious crimes have also been able to leave one of the city’s only two prisons – including Jordan Knippling (pictured), who prosecutors say killed a man in 2020. He is said to have committed the crime days after he was convicted of attempted murder
Instead, he said – citing the judges’ statement [they] “Don’t make decisions in prison” – “the only conclusion left.” [is] “just a bad court ruling,” which puts the city’s approximately 230,000 residents in danger.
“The data is alarming,” French said. “We are considering how we should react.”
Meanwhile, judges like Spokane County Superior Court Judge Julie McKay continue to reject such rulings — with McKay, the court’s current presiding judge, issuing a statement to the newspaper.
She said of his release on Sunday: “When they go to prison, it is assumed that they will come out straight away.”
“That’s where we start, because that’s what the law says,” she insisted.
“From there you look at an analysis of whether you want to detain someone… you have to be able to detain them and tell them that they are not going to appear in court or that they are at risk of committing a violent act.” ‘
Other concerns that she and the lawyers are considering include, according to her own statements, the suspect’s “risk of interfering with witnesses” or interfering in the court’s administration of justice – a task for which she, as the court’s chief judge and spokesperson, is fundamentally responsible responsible for.
“Then we look at different things from there,” she continued, explaining the political change she witnessed during her nearly eight years in office.
“For example, criminal history, mental health history, if available,” she said, before listing other factors she said were considered.
“How old is their criminal history, what are the actual facts of the case and whether it is a violent crime,” she explained.
The most high-profile name uncovered in the report was that of Nash, who was found guilty last week after spending years awaiting trial from the comfort of his home
The lawyer also pointed out that under state law, anyone accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty and therefore releasing those arrested should at least be considered.
Meanwhile, judges like Spokane County Superior Court Judge Julie McKay continue to reject such rulings — with McKay, the court’s current chief judge, providing a statement in the newspaper citing how the court bases its decisions on a variety of factors founded
That is, as the Spokesman-Review argued in its piece, it is incumbent on judges to consider the scope of what is contained in the law – although such consideration is often subjective and up to the discretion of the individual legal professional.
But as French put it: “Some judges are good at protecting, [and] some are not,” with him and several others criticizing current bond standards for creating a revolving door to the rapidly growing city’s two detention centers.
According to data in the spokesperson’s report provided by the county, defendants arrested on rape charges have been released without bail 33 times since the start of 2021.
According to statistics, 19 of these cases involved a child.
In addition, another 24 people were accused of child abuse, the newspaper reported.
In each of these cases, the defendant was released from prison on his own recognizance and allowed to await trial without supervision or control.
Similarly, approximately 2,704 people accused of a crime within that 33-month period were released from prison without posting bail.
Of those, 235 were charged with Class A felonies, which often carry life sentences.
The city’s only two prisons house an average of more than 700 inmates per day – although officials told the newspaper that the releases were not due to overcrowding but rather poor judgment by lawyers, who have released defendants 33 times since the start of 2021. who had been arrested on rape charges
However, the data does not include names of offenders, the outcome of their cases, or demographic information such as race, gender, economic status, or age.
In addition, the list represents only the most serious charges brought against each perpetrator, even if he had multiple cases pending against him – as was the case with Knippling, who, according to prosecutors, was convicted in 2020 just days after being convicted of attempted murder killed a man.
About a year earlier, he walked out of the Spokane County Jail, which along with the Geiger Corrections Center houses an average of more than 700 inmates daily, without bail after he was accused of beating a nurse at a Spokane Valley hospital.
He is now being held on a $1,000,000 bond while he awaits trial on a first-degree murder charge.
Another defendant the spokesman was able to name based on identifying factors in his case was 35-year-old Daniel Silva – who was released on the morning of September 22 despite allegedly slashing a colleague’s face with a handsaw just hours earlier had.
But the most high-profile name in the report was that of Nash, who was found guilty last week of raping two women while on duty and is now in the middle of a 14-year prison sentence.
This came after years of being allowed to wait for trial in his own home rather than in a prison cell.