As an update regarding the questions surrounding the Lynden Smithson “paid administrative leave” you folks should know that I did email City Attorney Nancy Isserlis to provide her the opportunity to respond to my stories.

I guess the question is whether or not the placing of a City Prosecutor on “paid administrative leave” is news worthy. The Spokesman Review who had exactly the same information I do apparently made the decision that it wasn’t news worthy since they didn’t do a story on it even though they consistently run stories on City Employees who have been placed on administrative leave, and especially Cops. I did wait a while before writing my stories to see if they would do a story.

In my view, given all of the recent media regarding personnel decisions the Condon administration has made without question it is news worthy especially since Smithson prosecutes Domestic Violence cases and deals with Victims on a daily basis, but you will likely only read about it here, unless the Inlander decides to pick up on the story. Whether or not the decision made by Nancy Isserlis and Mayor Condon to place Smithson on paid administrative leave and subsequently allow him to return was a good one, regardless of why it was done, I feel is important as far as the overall picture is concerned.

The TRUTH is that Nancy Isserlis placed Smithson on paid administrative leave the day after a “Johns” sting. The TRUTH is she immediately contacted Lt. Mark Griffiths, who ran the String, as well as his boss Frank Straub. The rest of the TRUTH I know will be a little harder to come by, but I’ll give it my best shot.

 

I do know from experience that “John” stings can end up having individuals involved that most people wouldn’t expect, and sometimes those individuals are treated differently depending upon who it is and the ethics of the people running the sting.

It isn’t uncommon for Prosecutors, or other individuals in the justice system who run a little afoul with the law to have their cases transferred to another jurisdiction, or for example have a case heard by a Special Settings Judge as was the case when Lynden Smithson kind of forgot some things recently. I’ll keep digging.

 

 

 

 

 

I REPORT YOU DECIDE!