Republican prosecutor “offended” by Boger’s tactics

Grant County Prosecutor D. Angus Lee, a Republican who grew up in Vancouver and is the son of respected retired criminal defense attorney Darrell Lee, has been paying attention to the race for Clark County prosecutor because his parents live here.

He has been a representative at state and national Republican conventions and serves as a party precinct officer in Ephrata.

As a Republican and a prosecutor, he said Thursday that he’s “personally offended,” that Republican Brent Boger has tried to make such a big deal of the fact that a convicted criminal has, in an appeal, accused Deputy Prosecutor Tony Golik of misconduct.

“I’m really disappointed to see fellow Republicans utilize this as a campaign tactic,” Lee said. “It really has no meaning at all.”

Dino Constance was convicted in 2008 in a murder-for-hire scheme. This is his third appeal.

Lee said when convicted felons have a good case on appeal, they stick to the facts.

“If you are guilty and you know it, you blame the prosecutor,” Lee said. “It’s not uncommon.”

Golik, a Democrat, has never lost a case on appeal.

Lee, who interned years ago at the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office, said he doesn’t know either Golik or Boger.

Boger works on the civil side of the Vancouver City Attorney’s Office.

Lee said the fact that Constance accuses Golik of prosecutorial misconduct “makes for a good soundbite.”

But, Lee said, “if the GOP of Clark County or Mr. Boger knew anything about the criminal justice system,” they’d know the accusation itself means nothing.

On Friday, Boger issued a response which said, in part, “I agree that many prosecutorial misconduct allegations do not have merit. But some do and when there are accusations, they should be taken seriously and not scoffed at like Mr. Lee and Mr. Golik are doing. I have looked at academic research that indicates a significant number of criminal conviction reversals are reversed because of prosecutorial misconduct.”

— Stephanie Rice