Rantz: Seattle judges easy on teen twice accused of drug dealing, illegal gun possession

Two light-on-crime judges are helping to keep Seattle and King County dangerous.

Judges Nelson K.H. Lee and Averil Rothrock are two judges who seem eager to treat criminals as if they’re the victims. The judges hide behind useless spokespeople and statutes they hope the public doesn’t understand as they continue to side with criminals over the public’s safety. But their reckless actions are putting the public at risk.

Their most recent transgressions include going easy on a teen accused of armed drug dealing. Despite arrests for the same crimes over the course of a month, these judges won’t put a dangerous suspect in jail.

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Judge Nelson Lee

Police say 16-year-old Derrick Alexander was caught with a handgun and fentanyl with the intent to distribute — twice. But judges on both occasions chose to release the suspect rather than hold him in jail.

Alexander was first arrested on July 19 on Seattle’s notoriously dangerous 300 block of Pike Street. Police say they saw him “conduct two drug transactions” while he was “obviously dressed to conceal his identity” with heavy clothes during hot weather. After a third suspected drug deal, police decided to act after an officer saw an “outline of a handgun in the suspect’s front pants pocket.”

Upon arrest, police say they found a Ruger P-91 .40 caliber handgun, loaded with 16 hydro-shock bullets, $373 in wadded up cash, 1.8 grams of marijuana, and a bag of nearly 200 suspected fentanyl pills with a street value of at least $1,386.00.

“This is a larger amount than associated with mere usage. This amount is consistent with street level trafficking,” an officer wrote in an incident report.

The report says Alexander admitted to selling fentanyl.

The suspect was charged by King County Prosecutors with Violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act (with intent to deliver) and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm in the Second Degree.

Judge Nelson Lee was assigned the case. He’s a former King County prosecutor who moved to private practice where he handled criminal defense cases. He was appointed to the Superior Court by Governor Jay Inslee.

Lee found probable cause for both charges, according to court documents. But he released Alexander, over the prosecution’s objections, to his mother’s custody, without even so much as electronic home monitoring.

Alexander was to be supervised by his mother with a 9:00 p.m. curfew and was restricted from handling firearms or consuming alcohol. He allegedly had other plans.

Judge Averil Rothrock

On August 4, police say Alexander was again arrested on the 300 block of Pike Street with fentanyl and a handgun.

“I observed Alexander have multiple hand-to-hand transactions with people in the 300 block of Pike St on the South sidewalk, and during one of the below-described transactions, I saw Alexander hand the buyer small round blue pills that I believed to be Fentanyl pills,” an officer observed in an incident report.

Officers attempted an arrest but say Alexander fled and, they say, tried to throw away a baggie filled with 118 suspected fentanyl pills.

After a short chase, however, they caught and arrested the teen suspect. They say they found over $246 bundled up and a Glock Model 43, 9mm, semi-auto pistol on Alexander.

King County prosecutors again charged Alexander with Violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act (intent to deliver) and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm in the Second Degree.

This time, Judge Averil Rothrock was assigned to the case. She’s a twice-elected judge with 24 years of private practice and was originally appointed to the superior court by Inslee.

Like Judge Lee, Rothrock found probable cause on both counts but went easy on Alexander. She released Alexander, though this time on electronic home monitoring.

For Lee, it’s ideological

Lee has a passion for juvenile courts — because it allows him to go easy on suspects while implying he’s a hero for doing so.

When Lee was running for the judgeship, he sought the endorsement of the far-left 36th District Democrats. He told them that he appreciated the “discretion” he had while working juvenile cases for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. He said he used a “multidisciplinary approach to finding solutions to kids to make sure that they didn’t get caught up in a criminal justice system down the road.”

While it’s noble to actually want to work on solutions to keep dangerous kids from reoffending, releasing a juvenile suspected of drug dealing while armed isn’t going to cut it.

Of course, Lee’s willingness to keep the public at risk while pursuing his goal of keeping dangerous teen suspects out of jail extends beyond an alleged drug dealer.

A 17-year-old in Burien allegedly shot at a police officer while he and his friend fled in a Honda. They were wanted in connection with a shooting hours earlier. After arrest, the teen was lucky enough to get in front of Lee. Over the prosecution’s objections, the dangerous juvenile suspect was placed on electronic home monitoring.

Something to celebrate during this pandemic: watching new Judge Nelson Lee be sworn in—at an appropriate distance. pic.twitter.com/u9qvu29U2X

— David Keenan (@JudgeDaveKeenan) April 6, 2020

Rothrock may have blood on her hands

Rothrock is known to go easy on dangerous juvenile suspects and she may have blood on her hands.

16-year-old Montrell Hatfield and 15-year-old Marshon D. Jones were arrested for the murder of Jordan Brown on March 19 at a Tacoma marijuana shop. They’re also allegedly connected to at least 10 pot shop robberies in Pierce and King counties.

Before the alleged murder, the pair were arrested for an armed robbery at a Federal Way pawn shop where they allegedly pistol-whipped customers and staff.

Luck was on their side: Hatfield and Jones were assigned Rothrock as their judge.

Over the prosecution’s requests, Rothrock released both teens, placing them on electronic home monitoring. They allegedly cut the devices off their ankles before going on the lam in connection to the alleged Tacoma murder. Had they been in jail where they belong, this alleged murder would not have taken place.

Congratulations to King County Bar Foundation trustee Averil Rothrock on her appointment by Governor Inslee to be a new King County Superior Court Judge! https://t.co/f0AuUE9LJq @GovInslee pic.twitter.com/V6w2bH0vt3

— King County Bar (@kingcountybar) October 9, 2018

Rothrock is notoriously light-on-crime

Rothrock also presided over the case of then-18-year-old Alrick Hollingsworth, who was charged with shooting five people in downtown Seattle. He was on the run for five months before capture.

Rothrock went easy on Hollingsworth, sentencing him to only nine years in jail. That was six years less than the 15-year sentence prosecutors asked for. It was also three years less than the standard sentencing range, according to the Dori Monson Show on KIRO Newsradio.

At the time, she blamed the community for the shooting.

“The struggle in your community with gangs and gun violence matters to me – and our entire community shares responsibility for that struggle,” Rothrock said.

These judges are making dangerous decisions

Judges Lee and Rothrock bear some responsibility for crime surge in Seattle and King County.

It sometimes makes sense to keep kids out of jail. Most of us have little appetite for throwing teens in jail for stealing candy from a 7-Eleven or for getting into low-level fights with other teens. But when a gun is involved, the teen has proven to be unworthy of leniancy when you compare the risk they pose to the public.

The area’s crime surge is driven, in large part, by consequence-free crime and the prolific offenders the progressive-run criminal justice system creates. When there are little to no consequences for criminal behavior, the situation only worsens. Most kids accused of armed drug dealing would not find themselves accused of the very same crimes if they didn’t think they could get away with it.

I assume Nelson and Lee mean well. But their good intentions are putting us at risk. They don’t appear to see or care about the threat these dangerous suspects pose. They’re blinded by their ideologies and we’re all victims because of it.

Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3–6 pm on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow @JasonRantz on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Check back frequently for more news and analysis.

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