Judge Bates dies at 52

King County Superior Court Judge Jim Bates, a jurist with a reputation for overseeing difficult cases with aplomb, died yesterday at his Bellevue home. He was 52.

The cause was a heart attack, said his close friend and attorney, Tom Fain.

Judge Bates was suffering from colon cancer, Fain said. After undergoing chemotherapy treatments Saturday, he complained of chest pain.

He suffered heart failure early yesterday. Attempts at resuscitation failed, Fain said.

The King County legal community mourned the loss.

"He was thought of as the kind of judge who could handle any kind of case at any time," said Superior Court Judge Laura Inveen. "He was very well-respected as far as the quality of the work that he did."

Judge Bates' tenure on the Superior Court bench began in 1980, when he was appointed by then-Gov. Dixy Lee Ray and became, at 32, one of the youngest judges in the state. He won every re-election campaign thereafter and was rated by the Washington Bar Association as "exceptionally well-qualified."

Earlier this month, Judge Bates agreed to a censure recommended by the Commission on Judicial Conduct and a 30-day unpaid suspension over allegations of improper comments to court staff nine to 19 years ago.

The complaint had surfaced in 1998 just as his campaign for a seat on the state Supreme Court was concluding.

Judge Bates presided over the 1986 murder trial of David Rice, convicted of killing Seattle attorney Charles Goldmark and his family; the 1996 trial determining whether the Seahawks were required by contract to stay in Seattle; and a recent records dispute involving the Martin Pang arson case.

"He didn't shy away from the difficult cases (and) he was fair," Fain said.

James Wilford Bates Jr. was born March 14, 1947, in Bellevue to Pauline and James Wilford Bates. He grew up there and attended Bellevue High School. He received both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Washington and then received a master's of law degree from Harvard Law School.

After graduating from Harvard, he worked in the state Attorney General's Office and then in the Seattle law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine. He also taught law at the UW.

In 1978, he lost a contest for King County prosecutor.

In 1994 and 1998 he ran unsuccessfully for the state Supreme Court.

Late in the 1998 race, a complaint was lodged with the Commission on Judicial Conduct alleging that more than a decade or so earlier Judge Bates made inappropriate comments while looking at autopsy photographs and improper comments to a female case manager.

After agreeing to the recommended discipline earlier this month, Judge Bates said in a statement that standards of office conduct and humor have changed since he was appointed to the bench.

He wrote: "I realize that there must be a strong demarcation between a judge's personal life and his life in court. My record over the past decade demonstrates that I learned this lesson long before these charges were brought. Nevertheless, I realize that we all need to periodically engage in self-examination, and these allegations have caused me to do so. I welcome the time for reflection. I believe it will make me a better judge."

Yesterday, Judge Bates' friends remembered a man of integrity and compassion. "He was always a straight-up, honest good guy," said Lee Reaves, an Olympia lobbyist and former fishing companion.

For years, Judge Bates found solace in fishing, and friends recalled him as a graceful angler who could find fish no matter where he dropped a line. Wherever he went, fellow fisherman called: "`Follow the judge, he knows where they are,"' Reaves recalled.

The two would often fish at Midchannel Bank, near Port Townsend.

"He was the best fisherman up there. He would go up there with his dog and his open boat," Reaves said.

Judge Bates is survived by his wife, Peggie; two children, Cary, 12, and Maxwell, 6; and brothers Bill Bates of the Lake Tahoe area, and Jon Bates of Vancouver, B.C..

Funeral arrangements are pending. The family asks that donations in Judge Bates' memory be made to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; 1100 Fairview Ave. N.; Seattle, WA 98109.

Joshua Robin's phone message number is 206-464-8255. His e-mail address is jrobin@seattletimes.co.