Canova Runs As Anti-Sanders -- His Strategy For Winning High-Court Race: `I'm Not Richard'

Washington State Supreme Court

The state's highest court hears cases appealed from superior courts and the state Court of Appeals, establishes court rules and procedures, and reviews disciplinary actions against judges and lawyers. Its nine members serve staggered 6-year terms and are paid $112,078 per year.

In his race for the state Supreme Court, Greg Canova leaves no doubt about whom he is running against.

He talks so much about his opponent, incumbent Justice Richard Sanders, it's as if "Richard" is part of every conversation.

Canova on Sanders' political philosophy: "He follows a self-avowed libertarianism, `Let the market work, we have a minimum need for police protection, the rest of the time the government has to get out of the way. Except, oh, by the way, for reproductive rights.' Isn't there a bit of contradiction there, Richard?"

When Canova quotes a Sanders opinion he finds particularly odious, he says, "I mean, come on Richard."

Some in this year's crowded field of candidates for other Supreme Court positions are lower-court judges looking to move up. Some are lawyers who have run before or are taking their first shot in the hopes of a lucky win. There is an attorney and academic who sees a Supreme Court seat as the culmination of a career spent studying the Washington Constitution and judiciary.

Canova is pulled to this two-man race for Position 6 - it seems more like a violent yank, really - by Sanders' presence on the court. He has a simple campaign strategy that could be summed up this way: "I'm not Richard."

"I hope the voters understand the differences between the two of us, and if they do, I have no doubt I will be elected," Canova said.

You don't have to do deep analysis to find differences:

-- During college, Canova was a long-haired war protester, Sanders a close-cropped, right-wing (his words) columnist.

-- Canova practiced private law for almost two years, Sanders for 26.

-- Canova has spent 24 years as a government criminal prosecutor; Sanders is the justice most likely to side with criminal defendants.

-- Canova says the judiciary is one of three equal branches of government; Sanders says it is the first among putative equals.

-- Canova was a Cougar, Sanders a Husky.

This is not to say Canova ignores his own record. He tells voters that his years as a criminal prosecutor well qualify him for the state's highest court.

"A public prosecutor's job . . . is to do justice," he says. "To make sure that innocent people aren't charged, that the guilty are fairly tried and convicted and, if convicted, they're fairly sentenced, and then all issues on appeal are fully and fairly heard.

"That's what I've spent the last 24 years of my career doing, representing all the people of the state of Washington."

Critics say Canova's career, and his campaign, are one-dimensional and he lacks Sanders' breadth of experience.

Canova stresses the work he has done on various committees and commissions trying to improve the state's criminal justice system. He recently served on a committee that drafted rules for providing legal counsel to indigent defendants in death-penalty cases. The committee set standards for competency of counsel as well as the number of attorneys required. The rules were adopted by the Supreme Court.

But the conversation or speech or campaign mailer always, sooner or later, turns to Sanders and his record on the court, particularly those decisions dealing with crime.

Since his 1995 election, Sanders argued that the voter-approved "three strikes, you're out" law is unconstitutional. He said the imprisonment of a sexual predator was unconstitutional because the convict wasn't getting treatment. He said citizens should have more rights to forcibly resist arrest, and that police have too much power to search homes without a warrant. He argued that a rapist's confession in therapy to 50 additional rapes shouldn't be used against him in sentencing.

"The citizens of this state cannot stand a full six-year term of him continuing to distort the constitution to fit what I think is an extremist agenda in criminal-justice issues . . . and continue to threaten public safety," Canova said the day he launched his campaign.

Sanders looks at Canova's experience and says, "He's a government lawyer who thinks the government is always right.

"What I hear him saying is that he sees the Supreme Court as an extension of what he is being paid to do as a government prosecutor. But that's not what a judge does."

Sanders' record in criminal cases has helped to win Canova the endorsements of 38 of 39 county prosecutors. But some of them talk about Sanders as much as Canova.

Ask Yakima County Prosecutor Jeff Sullivan, a co-chairman of Canova's campaign, why he supports Canova and he says, "I suppose, one, I want to see Justice Sanders off the court because I think he is bad for the court, and I think Greg will make a good judge."

Talking about support from prosecutors, Pierce County Prosecutor John Ladenburg was quoted as saying, "It's as much to oppose Sanders as support Greg."

What Canova says is the most important difference between him and Sanders -he calls it the centerpiece of his campaign - regards subsidized legal services for the poor. They disagree not about assistance in criminal cases, which they both agree is a constitutional imperative, but for civil cases. Canova supports it, Sanders opposes it.

The debate quickly becomes mired in technicalities and financial intricacies as Canova talks in his speeches about Sanders' opposition to using interest earned on trust accounts held by attorneys, the source of much of the money for low-income legal services.

Says Sanders, "There is no legal right for citizens of this state to have the public, in general, pay for their civil litigation expenses." He says if the public supports the program, it should be paid for through a legislative appropriation, not what Sanders said is the "confiscation" of interest from lawyers' trust accounts.

"I know it's complicated," an exasperated Canova said in an interview after trying to explain the issue to the Olympia Rotary, "but it's really important."

It's important to Canova because he thinks it makes a point.

"I think it's central because Richard says he's for the little guy against big government. These people whose legal services are being funded are the little guys," Canova said. "People just need to be told the truth about his record."

That's why Canova says he is running against Sanders, not Justice Barbara Madsen or for the open seat in this year's election. He says he hasn't been recruited to run in past years and didn't want to wait for possible open seats in the future, or even a possible gubernatorial appointment to fill a vacancy.

"I think it's to Greg's credit that he took on someone from a philosophical standpoint rather than just being an opportunist," said David Waterbury, director of the state Medicaid Fraud Unit, which Canova oversees. "This is not the path of least resistance."

Because there are only two people running, the race will be decided in the Sept. 15 primary.

Sanders and his supporters note that Canova spent less than two years in private practice and 24 as a criminal prosecutor, and they question whether he is qualified for the Supreme Court, where about 40 percent of cases involve criminal law.

"He's a criminal prosecutor. That's all he knows," says Sanders.

They also say Canova's campaign is simplistic and that it shows he would not be open-minded on the court.

"It's very easy for a prosecutor to say, `Nah, nah, soft on crime.' But where do you draw the line?" said Lenell Nussbaum, a Seattle defense attorney and a co-chairwoman of Sanders' campaign.

"I think Greg Canova is cheapening and demeaning the constitution by saying this is a hard-on-crime, soft-on-crime issue. He can run that line for the Legislature if he wants to run for political office."

Even defense attorneys who praise Canova's professionalism, question whether a career prosecutor would be able to fairly consider the rights of criminal defendants.

Canova, 50, was born in Vancouver. At Washington State University, he says he was a liberal leader on campus, later letting his hair grow to his shoulders as a law student at the University of Southern California. At USC, he was an active war protester and helped to run the draft counseling center, which helped young men facing the draft both on campus and in the surrounding low-income neighborhoods.

Done with law school, he moved to Seattle and a job with the law firm of Culp, Dwyer, Guterson & Grader. He said he was drawn by partner William Dwyer, now a Seattle federal district court judge, and the firm's reputation for being socially active. He told the Olympia Rotary Club that he spent his time in private practice "mostly carrying Bill's briefcase, but learning about civil practice."

He wanted to be in court, though, and got a job with King County Prosecutor Chris Bayley, a Republican elected on an anti-corruption platform. Canova became the senior criminal deputy, handling the highest-profile murder cases.

But it was his work creating a special sexual-assault unit that Canova said was the high point of his county career. It was the 1970s, and prosecutors, as well as police and doctors, were still learning to be sensitive in dealing with assault victims.

Canova worked to reduce the number of interviews victims would have to give and to find ways to "minimize trauma to the victims," he said.

At the time, Canova still described himself as a liberal Democrat. But that didn't stop him from going to work for another conservative Republican, Attorney General Ken Eikenberry. In 1981, Canova was named head of the attorney general's new criminal division, which didn't really exist until he was hired and built the office.

It was designed as a super crime-fighting unit, prepared to sweep in to help counties with major cases, prosecute white-collar crime, government corruption and organized crime. He traveled the state to take over murder cases that were lagging or where local officials had conflicts and called in Canova instead.

He went to Yakima in 1986 to prosecute an 11-year-old murder after local prosecutors twice declined to take it to court. After the family of the victim had hired a private investigator and the governor asked him to help, Canova successfully prosecuted Noyes "Russ" Howard for murdering his wife and making it look as if she had been kicked to death by a horse.

Sullivan, the Yakima County prosecutor, remembers asking Canova to later return to Yakima to take over a murder investigation when the victim was Sullivan's first cousin.

This all gave Canova a bit of a swashbuckling reputation.

The Seattle Times described him in 1986 as a "young Sean Connery (with) the resonant voice of a TV anchorman" and talked about how up that point he had yet to lose a case.

He has since lost cases.

He led the prosecution of former State Patrol Officer Lane Jackstadt, accused of unlawful imprisonment and official misconduct for allegedly forcing a young couple to go to his church's anti-abortion ministry after Jackstadt learned during a traffic stop that they were on their way to an abortion appointment.

The trial ended with a hung jury. Ten of 12 jurors wanted to acquit on the imprisonment charges, and the jury was evenly split on whether Jackstadt committed official misconduct. Jackstadt was later fired and paid a $175,000 civil settlement to the couple he was accused of detaining.

"I think justice was done," Canova said. "The justice system is more than just a criminal trial."

Canova also prosecuted the top employees of the O.K. Boys Ranch, a state-funded Olympia boys home rife with violence and sexual assault, according to former residents who have successfully sued the state for their mistreatment.

But the criminal case seemed lost when a judge ruled that post-traumatic-stress disorder does not constitute bodily injury under the state's "criminal mistreatment" statute, the law Canova used to charge the former employees. That issue is now being considered by the state Court of Appeals.

Attorneys who have faced off with Canova have nice things to say about him, within the bounds of their relationship.

Cyrus Vance Jr. represented Seattle businessman Tom Stewart during a lengthy state and then federal investigation into the laundering of campaign donations. The case ended with a plea bargain between Stewart and the federal government that called for a fine of $5 million, two months of home detention and 160 hours of community service.

"His experience helps him judge cases, and because he's seen a lot, he doesn't get overly excited simply because the case is a media case," Vance said. "He has won and lost his share, and he is able to look beyond the first headline."

"He's actually a gentleman," says prominent Tacoma defense attorney Monte Hester. "He handles a case in a very business-like way, he presents his arguments in a respectful manner, he is prepared, he is articulate, and he does it as a professional should, without getting personal or trying to demean the other side."

But, said Hester, "He is a prosecutor." And he says it like that's a bad thing.

Hester says that when prosecutors are elected to the bench, "there is this terrible pull. . . . They're supporting work of detectives and police officers, and the devotion is to represent that side."

Because of that, Hester is supporting Sanders. He says he wishes Canova were running for a different seat, but that defense attorneys should support a justice with a record like Sanders'.

Sullivan, the Yakima prosecutor, says that's a fundamental misunderstanding of what a prosecutor's job is.

"We don't always think the government is right," Sullivan said. "The fact is, we turn down a lot of cases because we believe in the rule of law." He said there is rarely publicity about cases that prosecutors reject because of poor police work, mistakes or where a suspect has been unfairly treated.

Canova is married to Seattle District Court Judge Barbara Linde, has two children and lives in West Seattle. He sang with the Seattle Symphony Chorale for 22 years and tends a collection of fine wines in a wine cellar he and Waterbury built in the Canova home.

He is critical of Sanders' appearance before a rally of abortion opponents - an appearance that led to Sanders being reprimanded by the Judicial Conduct Commission; that decision was overturned on appeal to a special panel of judges.

But Canova lets people know his position on abortion. He won't address it directly, but he does tell special-interest groups that he has always contributed money to Planned Parenthood. He won't say what his position is on Initiative 200, the November ballot measure that would ban racial or gender preferences in government hiring, contracting and public education, but says he has always believed in affirmative action in the past.

David Postman's phone message number is 360-943-9882. His e-mail address is: dpostman@seattletimes.com