Former Tri-Cities judge should be banned from the bench, WA judicial commission rules

A former Tri-Cities judge should never be allowed to serve on the bench again, state commission ruled on Friday.

An eight-member panel of Washington state Commission on Judicial Conduct ruled that former Superior Court Judge Sam Swanberg should be censured and banned from serving as a judge.

The commission’s decision now goes to the Washington State Supreme Court for a final determination.

Swanberg served nearly seven years in Benton and Franklin counties. He stepped down voluntarily on May 17 even though he’d been acquitted by a Franklin County jury of domestic violence involving his former wife.

He is still an attorney and a censure by the Supreme Court would not change that.

Three days after he left his job as a judge, the state commission held its fact-finding hearing. Swanberg refused to defend himself, but he was called as a witness and gave some testimony.

The state commission found the judge violated three of the rules that guide the behavior of judges by “engaging in physically violent and emotionally abusive behavior over the decades of his marriage” and “that he harassed and stalked” his ex-girlfriend after the end of his relationship.

“The panel found that Judge Swanberg admitted to being dishonest; that he engaged in an ongoing pattern of manipulative conduct; and used the tools and prestige of judicial office for his personal benefit in an attempt to keep other people under his power and control,” said the ruling.

“As an aggravating factor, the Commission panel found that the judge made multiple public statements to decry and denigrate the Commission’s constitutionally-mandated proceeding; and declined to participate in the hearing process to the extent that he could; and that he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights as a witness most likely because he could perceive the likelihood that he would perjure himself under oath,” according to the statement read by Chair Kristian Hedline.

The decision was announced Friday in front a meeting of the entire commission. A 26-page decision was later posted on the commission’s website.

“His unrestrained manifestations of self-pity and personal suffering upon rejection that he (at times) admitted he brought upon himself further demonstrate his narcissistic self focus,” said the decision.

Swanberg was invited to attend Friday’s commission decision, but he did not. The former judge’s attorney Scott Johnson told the Tri-City Herald that the commission has it’s mind made before its hearing was ever held.

“The commission decided to believe the allegations of a disgruntled former spouse, even when video evidence showed her to be dishonest in order to advance their own narrative,” Johnson said in a statement to the Herald.

Swanberg “has admitted that he could have behaved in a better manner at the end of his relationship” with his ex-girlfriend, Johnson said.

“Despite multiple attempts to resolve this matter in which Judge Swanberg was willing to admit to behavior he actually engaged in and accept sanctions, the commission said, no,” Johnson said in the statement.

“The only resolution the Commission would agree to was one where Judge Swanberg would have had to lie about being a domestic abuser. Because he was never a domestic abuser and because he would not lie so the Commission could further their agenda, Judge Swanberg elected to resign in order to spare the people of Benton and Franklin Counties a prolonged and unfair process with a conclusion that was already decided. ” said Johnson.

Judicial commission hearing

The commission’s ruling followed a day-and-a-half hearing in May, when the seven members heard testimony from his ex-wife and a former girlfriend.

During the hearing, Terry Scanlan, the attorney who argued the case against Swanberg to the state board, called the former judge a “very sad, damaged and disturbed individual, who never had any business of being on the bench in the first place.”

Swanberg’s ex-wife, Stephanie Barnard, now a state representative, has alleged that he was physically and emotionally abusive during their marriage. They’d been married 33 years and have six children. Swanberg denied her claims.

He also allegedly harassed his former girlfriend, a Franklin County deputy clerk, after she ended their relationship.

He was acquitted in 2022 of domestic violence assault of Barnard and was never charged with a crime involving his former girlfriend. Swanberg did not fight the ex-girlfriend’s anti-harassment order.

Swanberg had hoped the judicial commission hearing would be canceled once he resigned, but Commission Executive Director Reiko Callner of Olympia previously told the Tri-City Herald that it’s important to reach a conclusion in these cases because it can serve as a future precedent for how judges should behave.

The commission isn’t required to meet the same standards as a criminal case when judging behavior and considering evidence because they are not judging a specific crime but a pattern of behavior for an officer of the court.

This story was originally published September 6, 2024 at 5:21 PM.