Judicial Experience When it Counts 
 

 
Judicial Experience When it Counts
 
      Since being appointed to the Clark County Superior Court in 1979,
 Judge Harris has presided over cases that range from straight
 forward to complex, small and large, short and long. His 
 experience includes three death penalty cases. Westley Allen Dodd.
 Dodd admitted to killing three small children in Clark County public
 parks or on a school playground, and was captured trying to abduct
 another child. This heinous offender kept a diary, which contained
 details of his crimes. The jury returned a verdict requiring death;
 the verdict was carried out when the case was affirmed on appeal.
 This was the first death penalty case carried out in the state of
 Washington after the death penalty was reinstated, and it captured
 national media attention.
      
Clark Hazen. Hazen was accused of killing a grandfather and 
granddaughter. After hearing testimony over the course of the five
week trial, the jury returned a verdict of death. Hazen took his own
 life before his appeal was heard.


 Sean Stevenson. In this case, the jury returned a verdict of life
 without the possibility of parole after the prosecutor concurred
 with defense presentation. Stevenson killed his mother, sister, 
 step-father, and fetus. The verdict was affirmed on appeal.


Other high profile cases include:
 
State vs. Schreiber, homicide case involving the death of Sgt Crawford
of the sheriff’s office after he was rammed by a truck fleeing a domestic
violence scene.


Collins vs. Fire District 5, a sexual harassment suit against Fire 
District 5 and the City of Vancouver. The multi-million dollar verdict
is on appeal.


State vs. Gallatin, a rapist attacking six women. The conviction was
based on DNA evidence, and the offender is serving a life sentence
after being arrested and convicted in Clark County. 


State vs. Jesperson, The Happy Face Killer, a long-haul truck driver
who pled guilty to second degree murder, then admitted to killing up
to eight other women along the West Coast after picking them up at
truck stops. 


Multi-week trial dealing with blood transfusions from Red Cross blood
drives in which hepatitis C was not detected and individuals became
infected. Determined that reliable testing was not available at the
 time of transfusion and the finding was affirmed on appeal.


Multi-week trial involving whether birth control pills could cause a
retina disorder as a side effect.


A packed court room to hear a decision about whether a certain type of
sand should be used in the sand traps at Royal Oaks Golf and Country Club.

Significant Accomplishments
 
 
            During his 29 years on the bench, Judge Harris has served the citizens of Clark County in both a state 
wide and local capacity. A few of his notable accomplishments include:
 
 
Statewide
 
·    President of the Superior Court Judges Association, helping lead efforts to restore state “Becca” 
funding for juvenile courts. The Becca funding supports a proven program that addresses truancy issues
through maintaining school attendance, thereby lowering juvenile delinquency. When program funding was
cut to meet a state budget shortfall, Judge Harris testified before the Legislature and argued successfully
for reinstating funding. Clark County's innovative program using Accountability Boards in each school
district maintains the local commitment to assure education for truant students without the use of detention.
The McArthur Foundation has selected the Clark County program as a national model recently, awarding
Clark County $350,000 to prepare materials for other states.  
 
 
·   Superior Court Judge member to state task force on landmark review of how the state courts are funded.
The task force consisted of judges, clerks, state bar leaders, citizens, juvenile directors, representative of
access to justice, and public defense. After two years, the task force presented a report to the Legislature
showing the state provided only 13 percent of court funding, making Washington the lowest in the United States.  
 
 
As is often the case, studies sit on shelves and don’t result in action. To maintain the momentum, Judge Harris served
 on a state task force called Justice in Jeopardy, bringing specific bills to the Legislature to assist county funding
 of the courts.  Legislation included recognition that district courts are state courts and should receive partial
 funding for judicial salaries; funding for attorneys dealing with dependency cases (a savings to Clark County of
 $600,000 annually), which has also resulted in family reunification after completing necessary services or permancy
 for the child through adoption; and nearly $400,000 annually to assist criminal defense. 
 
 
·    Member of the Strengthening the Board of Judicial Administration task force, which consisted of representatives
 from the appeals courts, superior and district courts, and bar leaders with a goal of providing a unified action group
 to deal with judicial needs.
 
 
Local
 
 
 
·    After attending a national conference on technology with former Superior Court Judge John Skimas, Judge Harris
helped developed a program to place video in courtrooms for court reporting. Clark County piloted the program
for the state, and Judge Harris’ courtroom became the fourth courtroom in the state to use this technology. His
courtroom has deployed the technology since 1991. This simple new activity has saved millions in labor costs
as court reporters retire and are replaced with the video technology.
 
 
·    Judge Harris was the first family law judge, and started the expedited trial technique.  Our “assigned judge system
with commissioners” means that the same person works with the case throughout the life of the case – a system
which is now mandated by the state. Through this technique, the family law system began moving cases toward
resolution instead of losing trial priority to criminal cases – a situation that occurred all too often.
 
 
·    Judge Harris arranged for Clark County to be one of three pilot counties in the state dealing with jury compensation.
The review points out that compensation is well below minimum wage, which is a deterrent to citizens serving on
 juries. For example, compensation ranges from $10 and mileage in Clark County to a high of $25 in some
 counties. The report, to be presented to the Legislature later this year, will stress the importance of paying jurors
 a fair wage for their service. Judge Harris will testify at the next legislative session in regards to increasing juror
 pay. In addition, Clark County is establishing a program of One Day or One Trial for jurors.  This cuts their term
 of service to the day of reporting if they are not selected for a jury. 
 
 
In addition to these efforts, Judge Harris has been instrumental in the following:
 
·    Expanding drug court for adults, parents in dependency and juveniles using newly available funds from the meth
tax instituted at the County level.
 
 
·    Our restorative justice in juvenile program, where the emphasis is placed on the juvenile making (in part) whole
the victim or the community through meaningful work programs, coupled with our wrap-around programs that
 combine mental health, education, counselors and the family to resolve the problems a juvenile might face
 which led to the violation.
 
 
·    Establishing a far-reaching system to make felons accountable by requiring them to pay certain costs of
 prosecution, restitution and attorney fees.  For example, rather than going to jail, eligible offenders may
 be placed in work crew programs cleaning parks, 4th July litter, and our public roads thus reducing costs
 and space needed to jail the prisoner  When the program first started, collections were about $700,000.
  Today, the payback has grown to nearly $3,000,000, including more than $1,000,000 to the county cost
 of court-appointed attorneys, and $600,000 in restitution to victims.
 
 
·    Launching a guardianship monitoring program, that targets those who prey on the elderly or the young, taking
 their funds without court approval.  Several guardians have been prosecuted or compelled to repay.