Trooper 'recycled' traffic-arrest facts; Snohomish County will dismiss some cases

EVERETT — Sixty-five people cited for a variety of misdemeanor traffic offenses in Snohomish County will have their cases dismissed because a State Patrol trooper "recycled" information in scores of reports, the Snohomish County Prosecutor's Office said yesterday. Keith Jordan resigned from the State Patrol on Friday when he learned there would be an internal investigation into the way he was writing arrest reports and citations, Capt. Robert Lenz said.

Chief Criminal Prosecutor Mark Roe said an Everett assistant public defender brought his concerns about Jordan's arrest reports to the attention of the Prosecutor's Office late last month. After reading several of Jordan's reports, Roe said, "there were dramatic similarities making it appear that reports were re-used with different defendants' names on them."

It wasn't uncommon to see chunks of text printed in one report "recycled" in several other reports, Roe said.

He said Jordan was the primary investigator in 65 cases — mostly for drunken driving, driving with a suspended license and other minor traffic offenses — pending prosecution. Letters explaining that charges are going to be dropped will be mailed to defendants' attorneys this week.

Roe said cases in which Jordan was the lead investigator also will be dropped. Jordan has only been a trooper since March 2002, and Roe wasn't sure how many of his cases have already been decided in court.

"Defendants should be convicted on specific evidence, not generalizations," Roe said. "The integrity of the Washington State Patrol, the Prosecutor's Office and law enforcement in general is more important than these cases."

Because Jordan resigned, there will not be an investigation by the State Patrol. Prosecutors said Jordan has not committed a crime.

Lenz said he could not disclose information about Jordan's personnel record, but he said Jordan was assigned to the Patrol's Silver Lake office. He said Jordan mostly handled cases in South Snohomish County.

The Washington State Traffic Safety Commission gave Jordan a "Superstars" award last year for his high number of drunken-driving arrests.

"We do not believe in cutting and pasting," Lenz said. "Reports should be spontaneous from the incident you just investigated."

Jennifer Sullivan: 425-783-0604 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com