Five vie for judge seat

Snohomish County Superior Court judge position 2 has five candidates hoping to fill an empty seat on the bench.

Former Superior Court Judge David Hulbert, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Scott Lord, and lawyers Scott Peterson, Rico Tessandore and Joe Wilson are all seeking the spot left vacant when judge James Allendoerfer retired earlier this year.

Voters will have the chance to choose which man they want deciding superior court cases in the Nov. 3 general election.

The Snohomish County Bar Association and the county chapter of Washington Women Lawyers hosted a forum in Everett last Wednesday, giving the candidates a chance to make statements and answer questions. All of the candidates except Lord attended.

David Hulbert Hulbert claims he is the only candidate with "genuine experience," point- ing to his 12 years as a superior court judge. He was unseated by Judge Eric Lucas in 2004.

"I'll be ready to work for you folks day one," Hulbert said.

Hulbert said he believes the Snohomish County Superior Court system is working well.

"If it ain't broke, I don't believe in fixing it," he said.

He received his law degree from Gonzaga University in 1980. Hulbert was both a county prosecutor and in private practice before becoming a judge, and said he worked on all kinds of civil and criminal cases.

Since 2004, he has been a mediator and arbitrator.

The most difficult cases are those where a judge has to resolve custody issues, Hulbert said.

"You literally have the lives and futures and fortunes of families in your hands," he said.

Hulbert said he felt the most satisfaction after finishing adoption cases.

One mistake he made was in his first felony case as a lawyer. Hulbert said the judge dismissed the case on lack of evidence. It was the last time he lost a case for that reason.

In 1994, Hulbert said he was arrested for driving under the influence, and lost his license for a year.

Scott Peterson

Peterson has been a private practice lawyer for 15 years, and takes a lot of pro-bono cases. He is currently working on a class action suit against the Everett Housing Authority, and another on the wrongful eviction of thousands of county residents.

He received his law degree in 1993 from Seattle University Law School.

Peterson said one of his worst mistakes was in his first case, a wrongful death issue, where he was assisting an attorney. The attorney died before the trial, and Peterson said he took over the case based on the attorney's recommendation. It was only later that he discovered the attorney had been disbarred.

Peterson said he would like to be appointed to the judge's commissioners committee to help fix the system. The commissioners see about 80 percent of the superior court cases. Some appeals he has made for clients have been based on commissioner decisions.

"We need right decisions made and we need them right the first time," he said.

Peterson said the local court rules are fine, but that more needs to educate those who do not know the rules.

There is no real good answer to how to balance the budget for superior court, Peterson said. People without money need to be able to access the court system.

Rico Tessandore

Tessandore, a lawyer, said his work as judge pro tem, or temporary judge, for superior court and all four district courts helps make him qualified.

As a county prosecutor, Tessandore said he covered an assortment of cases, including driving under the influence, domestic violence and crimes against children. In private practice, he argued various civil cases.

While he was a deputy prosecutor, Tessandore had a criminal case where a young man had been abused by his father for many years. Being able to have the father convicted created a sense of peace for the young man, he said.

Tessandore said a mistake he made was while prosecuting a case involving seven felonies and one misdemeanor. He accidentally submitted information about the misdemeanor to the jury when he actually argued about the felonies. Luckily, the jury still came back with a guilty verdict, he said.

The current court system is under a lot of stress, Tessandore said.

"We need to re-examine how we conduct cases in Snohomish County," he said. There are things the court should consider to save money, Tessandore said. For example, he feels Snohomish County should consider changing the discovery deadline of 35 days prior to trial. The discovery deadline is the deadline for information in a court case.

Other counties have deadlines closer to three months, and most cases settle around the discovery cutoff. Pushing the deadline back would save court costs, he said.

The answer to the juvenile justice system is not longer sentences, Tessandore said. The issues leading to youth felonies, including drug use, must be dealt with.

Tessandore is a member of the Sno-Isle Board of Trustees, the president of the Snohomish County Bar Association, has mentored law students and was a committee member for the Washington State Bar Association.

"I will bring experience, integrity and an overriding work ethic to the bench," he said.

Joe Wilson

Wilson has been a private practice lawyer for 16 years in Everett.

As a lawyer, he has worked on all the types of cases that a superior court judge would hear, he said. About 45 percent of the cases he has litigated have dealt with family law, and the rest include a mix of contract, real estate, personal injury and criminal cases.

Wilson received his law degree from Gonzaga University.

The court should look at an integrated family court, Wilson said. Such a move would save money.

Wilson said a new requirement for mediation to occur in family law should save money by settling out of court.

The revolving door in the juvenile justice system needs to stop, Wilson said.

"We are dealing with the effects and not the symptoms," he said.

Wilson said he has several misdemeanors on his record, but all of them were vetted by the bar association and the state Supreme Court. He was convicted of driving under the influence in 1984 and 1986 and reckless driving in 1995.

Everyone makes mistakes, and those experiences have given him greater empathy, he said.

Wilson has served as a judge pro tem in district court and as a hearing examiner for Snohomish County Public Utility District. He has argued cases in the Tulalip Tribal Court, the state court of appeals and the state Supreme Court. His community service includes Snohomish County Legal Services, serving as a guardian for injured children and various positions on the board of Snohomish County Domestic Violence Services.

Scott Lord

Lord has been a Snohomish County deputy prosecutor in the family support division since 2007. He was also a deputy prosecutor in the criminal division for 12 years, until he started a private practice in 2003, and then opened the Majestic Café in Everett in 2005. He received his law degree in 1990 from the University of Puget Sound.

Lord has experience as a pro-tem judge while he was in private practice.