SEATTLE (AP) - A special prosecutor dismissed a misconduct allegation against an attorney in connection with a purported witness to the killing of a former prosecutor, The Seattle Times reported.
The decision came as a potential witness to the killing, Shawna Reid, attempted to have a perjury charge against her dismissed.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Wales was shot several times by someone who broke into his backyard on the night of Oct. 11, 2001.
Reid is the first person to have been indicted in connection to the killing. Prosecutors say she has information about a person court papers describe as “Suspect #1,” whom the FBI thinks has information regarding an alleged contract killing that targeted Wales.
Reid’s attorneys attempted to have her perjury indictment overturned on the grounds that an unidentified prosecutor improperly warned Reid in front of a grand jury.
Special Prosecutor Steven Clymer acknowledged that an attorney made an “imprecise remark” when they cautioned Reid that she was required to tell the truth at that grand jury, even if it incriminated her in the process.
Reid allegedly had a relationship with Suspect #1 as a teenager. She told FBI agents that Suspect #1 had boasted that he had been a part of a “murder of a ‘judge or attorney that lives on top of a hill,’” according to court documents compiled by The Seattle Times.
But Reid denied making those statements to the FBI when speaking before a grand jury in Feb. 2018, The Seattle Times reported.
Reid’s motion says she was promised immunity if she told the grand jury about Suspect #1, but that she was wrongly told to incriminate herself as a part of the deal. Reid’s attorneys say she was given an “impossible dilemma” because she couldn’t correct her lie without violating her immunity agreement and committing obstruction, which she was later charged for.
Prosecutors acknowledged the initial prosecutor who gave Reid those instructions committed an error, but that it was not misconduct and did not mean her indictment should be dismissed.
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