Tom Carr must get a secret masochistic thrill watching his credibility circle the drain. Or Nickels is dangling some really tasty carrot in front of him.

It's a special accomplishment, making Mark Sidran look like the epitome of skill and diplomacy.

But somehow, Carr manages.

Probably less than it wastes on arresting ganja users.

Wait, the SPD officer involved in the sting didn't bother to show up? Even though he or she is paid to whatever the SPD wants? You've gotta wonder if the SPD brass is fleeing Carr on this issue, or if Carr is just such a hotheaded liability that he can't maintain allegiance from the rank and file. This is the second time I know of this year a cop no-showed, too. According to the March 8th issue of the Seattle Times:

The other case involving a weapon, in which a bouncer at Tommy's Nightclub & Grill allegedly took a $100 bribe to let a patron in with a gun, was dismissed in January after the undercover officer failed to show up to testify in court.

Carr is a tool. You need to be shining the spotlight on the Asst. Chiefs.

Dom has it right, when SPD won't even bother to show up for court dates they are really demonstrating where their allegiance is. And it clearly ain't with Carr.

A third question - how much have these malicious prosecutions cost (in terms of legal fees and lost wages) the hapless working-class victims of Carr's megalomania?

Run Napoleon, Run!

Carr was a douche when he was on the ETC board that brought the original half-assed monorail finance plan up for a vote, and he's douche now as city attorney. Nickels surrounds himself with sycophants.

Dan wrote:

exactly how much money--public money--has the city wasted on these idiotic prosecutions?

Yeah, great question. Now where are we going to find someone to investigate this via public records requests and report on it? If only there was some place that employed people to do such work and then published the fruits of their labor for all to see...

working @8,

Carr is a separately elected official. He's the attorney for the City, not just for the Mayor.

Whatever you may think of the people who work for Nickels, Carr isn't one of them.

oh tim it-still-doesn't-mean-we-were-wrong carr!

it might show allegiance. but really, the point was already made. nickels was going for the night club changes then, not now. the splash worked well when it occurred; following-up on the arrests serves little purpose since it was the press - not the actual arrests - that mattered to begin with.

Tom Carr went down on me. Never put train tracks in a curb lane, kids.

Wait, um... uh... ok, I should probably read TFA, but, um...

how can you be arrested for letting minors into a bar...

...if the people you're accused of letting in WERENT MINORS?!?!

Somebody?

infrequent, I think you're right: This looks good for Nickels.

The sting was conducted to demonstrate the need for stricter nightlife rules. But then, of course, the council wouldn't implement them. Now, to Nickels' benefit, the defendants are getting off the hook under the existing laws, which bolsters the case that we need tougher laws. Nevertheless, club owners tightened up their act by requiring bartenders/servers/etc. be more vigilant about checking IDs.

But there are two problems with this strategy--if the goal is really about tempering rowdy nightlife. First is that, if the goal is to generate good media, the mayor and Carr are already losing. Thus far, each case is generating another article or two and they are resolving in the employees' favor. That media (and the skeptical press in the weeks after the sting) has already outweighed the few articles that actually prized the sting back in September. The second problem is Carr's. He's lost credibility on this issue (and the car impound ordinance and his shameless lies and misrepresentations about the pot ordinance) and he stands to lose the support he needs to convincingly push for new rules when the council revisits the issue.

But, it appears, the cops and Nickels are fine with Carr sticking his neck out and losing credibility. They're playing him like an attack Chihuahua because they know Carr will bite at the ankles of any prey he's offered.

I don't think this is about nightlife. It's about Nickels' bid for reelection.

Carr is Nickels' Aschroft--a re-election pawn to be exchanged as proof of Nickels turning over a new leaf on his sometime-controversial support of law enforcement. Nickels can drop the baggage of Carr and point to the need for stricter laws.

According to my source at the Seattle Times, Operation Sobering Thought had cost upwards of $200k some months ago, though undoubtedly that figure is much higher now.

Someone really ought to do a story, or something.

Was it really called "Operation Sobering Thought"??? For really reals???

LOL.

Operation Drunk with Power is more to the point.

Someone really ought to look into Asst. Chief Pierce and report back.

Anyone?

Bueller?

Officers don't show up for trial for various reasons:
1) prosecutors office fails to check officers calendar when scheduling court date and the officer is on vacation or on a day off. Officers DO NOT come to misdeamenor trials in Seattle on their days off. Good possibility here since this was a Carr show trial and may have been scheduled following different procedures than normal and missed the double check with the officers schedule.
2) The officers think the case is so bogus that it isn't worth sitting round all day in court, or several days on call in a high profile case, waiting for a court to be assigned and jury selection and preliminary motions to be finished.
3) The officer is busy with important field work and forgets
4) the reminder system for officers about the court date fails, see#1

Other ideas?

Cracked:

I know.

But I'm not telling. :)

Is it really a crime if the two alleged minors weren't really minors? It would seem to me that if he didn't let any minors into the club, he didn't break the law anyway.

No?