February 27, 2026
Counsel for a Washington county and three sheriff's deputies Friday urged a Tacoma federal judge to ditch a wrongful arrest lawsuit from former Superior Court Judge David Mistachkin, arguing he's failed to demonstrate law enforcement violated his constitutional rights when approaching his vehicle on the side of a road.
February 10, 2026
Sheriff's deputies were justified in arresting a sitting Washington judge on suspicion of DUI given his "bloodshot and watery eyes," admission of drinking earlier that evening and refusal to perform sobriety tests, Grays Harbor County told a Washington federal court in a filing seeking to throw out the ex-judge's suit.
February 09, 2026
A former Washington state judge who claims a wrongful DUI arrest contributed to his reelection loss is fighting to keep his lawsuit against Grays Harbor County alive, arguing that the county's justification for the arrest incorrectly relies on details from after he was taken into custody.
January 15, 2026
A Washington county urged a federal judge to toss a former state judge's lawsuit accusing sheriff's deputies of wrongfully stopping and arresting him on suspicion of DUI, arguing law enforcement had probable cause to detain him because he had an open alcoholic beverage in his vehicle and his speech was stumbling, slow and repetitive.
October 10, 2025
A former Washington state judge claims in a new lawsuit that his roadside stop and subsequent arrest by Grays Harbor County sheriff's deputies violated his constitutional rights and may have cost him his seat on the bench, noting that a county prosecutor later challenged him in an election and won.