Kitsap Prosecutor Bully, Or Just Tough? -- Clem Faces Test In Re- Election Bid

Do the names Arthur Curtis, William Hawkins or Gary Burleson ring a bell?

Perhaps in their home turfs of Clark, Island and Mason counties, the chief law-enforcement official is a household word.

But unlike those other county prosecutors, the name of C. Danny Clem has become well-recognized around the state.

The pit bull from Kitsap County was the first in the state to seek the death penalty for a juvenile convicted of murder. He is associated with tough-on-crime causes in the Puget Sound area and before the Legislature.

But after 17 years in office, Clem is facing his first election challenge. Russell Hauge, a Port Orchard attorney and former deputy prosecutor, has mounted a campaign that has become the talk of the county.

Two county commissioners, Win Granlund and Billie Eder, have written letters to voters asking them to toss Clem out of office. They have been joined by families of crime victims who took out newspaper ads saying not only criminals, but also victims, receive tough treatment at the hands of Clem.

It is not a partisan battle: Almost every elected official in Kitsap County is a Democrat, including Hauge and both the commissioners who came out against Clem. There is no Republican in the race, and the outcome will be decided in next Tuesday's primary.

"He is a bully," said Eder, who has known Clem since he was appointed prosecutor in 1977. "I don't mind swearing back at him because I've known him all these years."

Eder said in her letter, however, that despite their years of friendship, she has grown concerned both about Clem's conduct in office and his effectiveness.

She wrote, "I feel he has lost his objectivity and through the years, rather than seeing growth and improvement in his professional approach and demeanor, I have observed a deterioration. He has been seen repeatedly engaging in abusive behavior, swearing, screaming obscenities, ranting, raving and threatening. Clem also repeatedly berates and belittles other county employees." She said Clem once broke a phone when he slammed the receiver down hard.

"I think he's out of control," she said.

Granlund said county employees are afraid to work with Clem but also questioned his administration of the prosecutor's office.

He noted that cases have been dismissed when Clem's office lost files, and charged that Clem has failed to provide staff training.

Clem says the comments on his personality are "pandering to the public." The letter from Granlund prompted immediate replies from within the prosecutor's office defending Clem.

Clem said he's proud of his reputation as a tough guy because he thinks it cuts crime.

"One of the reasons for punishment is to deter others," he said. "Drug dealers stop at the (Tacoma Narrows) bridge because Dan Clem is too tough."

He said, "I have yelled at people. I plead guilty. I don't really think it's as bad as they say, maybe two or three incidents. I was in the Navy for four years and once in a while those words pop out. They have taken a couple of incidents and made it sound like an everyday occurrence."

Granlund, however, said he doesn't think a prosecutor has to shout to be heard.

"Norm Maleng (of King County) and John Ladenburg (of Pierce County) are tough on crime, too," Granlund said, "but they have never berated someone in the courtroom. They are good public servants."

Clem contends Granlund's letter was personally motivated, with its roots in a Clem campaign against one of Granlund's allies, Supreme Court Justice Robert Utter, more than a decade ago.

Among those who question Clem's behavior is Dick Peterson, a Kitsap County attorney who was Clem's chief criminal deputy from 1976 to 1979.

"I think he talks tough and makes outrageous statements but that he doesn't back them up," Peterson said. "The county has changed a lot. It has passed him by. He has ignored the civil side of the office."

Peterson said Clem made verbal and physical threats against him during a legal dispute.

The commissioners have questioned the quality of legal counsel they get from Clem's office on civil issues.

Hauge, who was a deputy prosecutor for 18 months in the early 1980s, makes comparisons between Clem's operation and the prosecutor's offices in four similar-sized counties.

He said running the prosecutor's office costs Kitsap County taxpayers more than in Clark, Yakima and Whatcom counties, which have a similar population size.

He said Clem's operation produces fewer guilty pleas and fewer convictions than other offices. "He is the worst performer but has a higher budget comparatively."

Clem said, "We are not afraid to take tough cases to trial," and defended his conviction rate.

In particular, Clem's performance in two cases has become a campaign issue.

In one, juveniles arrested for breaking into a home escaped prosecution because, according to Hauge, Clem's office lost their files and the youths turned 18 while awaiting trial. Clem said the files never were transmitted, but sheriff's department officials said they sent the file or parts of it to the prosecutor on seven different occasions.

In the other, Clem's office was bringing a first-degree rape charge against Jonathan Gentry, a man who had been convicted of manslaughter in Florida. When charging, Clem's deputy asked for only minimum bail and Gentry went free. Gentry later committed murder.

Hauge said Clem's office has no written standards on what amount of bail to seek, something the county sorely needs. Clem responds that the judge had the option of setting a higher bail amount, but Hauge laughed that excuse off as Clem's refusing to accept responsibility.

It was in the Gentry prosecution that Clem asked Gentry's African-American defense attorney "where did you get your ethics - in Harlem?" The slur resulted in a three-day delay in the case, and an appeal.

Clem, in response, has tried to refocus the campaign from a plebiscite on his own performance to one which also questions Hauge's ability to be a prosecutor.

Both John Merkel, a former prosecutor and U.S. Attorney, and Mike Redman, former head of the state's prosecutor's association, have written letters on Clem's behalf.

"No one who knows Dan well asserts that he is perfect, and nobody's going to nominate him as the most congenial elected official in Washington State's 39 counties," Redman wrote to the Bremerton Sun. "He is, however, an honest, able lawyer absolutely committed to the public interest with courage and candor."