Wilson tried to blame PubliCola for turning the court and public against him, calling us a “personal blog” whose coverage the judge should ignore. She didn’t buy it, saying his own actions were to blame.
By Erica C. Barnett
King County Assessor John Arthur Wilson will have to wear a GPS ankle monitor to ensure that he stays at least 1,000 feet away from his ex-fiancée Lee Keller, who has accused him of stalking her, a Seattle Municipal Court judge ruled on Tuesday. A different judge had decided Wilson did not need to wear a previously ordered monitor, after Wilson said he had a medical condition, lymphedema, that requires him to soak both legs every day. The company that provides King County’s ankle monitors, Sentinel, confirmed that their units can’t be submerged in water.
Wilson was arrested and jailed last year when he showed up repeatedly at Keller’s house while she had a protection order against him; he’s currently facing charges related to that arrest. Previously, according to Keller, Wilson contacted the employer of a man she had dated to falsely accuse him of sexually assaulting her; took photos of her without her knowledge and sent them to her; showed up at her home uninvited and refused to leave; and harassed her with incessant calls and text messages.
The King County Council, Seattle Women’s Commission, and Seattle Times editorial board have all called for Wilson to step down. In court on Monday, John Polito, Wilson’s attorney, said the criticism was tantamount to “calling for his head on a stake” and had biased the public unfairly against him.
In fact, Wilson would have been allowed to continue without the ankle monitor if not for own actions. Hours after learning he would not have to wear an ankle monitor after all, Wilson posted a selfie on Instagram and Facebook showing sitting in a tub, grinning, with the caption, “What a great day to just soak in the tub and let your cares float away.” Three days later, he did it again, posting, “Great to soak my legs after after (sic) a very productive and successful week” above a photo of him in the tub, mid-laugh.
PubliCola broke the story about Wilson’s defiant posts. Our article made its way to Judge Catherine MacDowell through an internal news distribution service, and she ordered Wilson to show up to court in person to address what she called “cavalier and public” posts that indicate “he does not seem to be taking this seriously.”
In a brief filed Monday, Polito argued that PubliCola is a mere “personal blog” by “someone named Erica Barnett” that should be disregarded because it is merely the “Ms. Barnett’s personal opinions unedited and unverified.”
In court, Polito argued that Wilson was being treated unfairly because of all the negative coverage and public criticism by elected officials and the press. (He also suggested that the word “stalking” was defamatory.) “If his name was John Smith, this would not be happening,” Polito said. He then claimed that Keller’s recent presence at a fundraiser for King County Executive Girmay Zahilay was a sign that her case against Wilson was politically motivated.
Turning to one of the oldest tropes in the victim-blaming book, Polito argued that Keller can’t really be afraid of Wilson, because she got back together with him in the past. (The brief Polito filed Monday includes many photos of the two together, complete with editorial comments from Polito like “the joy on their faces speaks volumes far more than words.”)
“This [court] is the place free all of that nonsense, all of the ‘hashtag, I Believe Her.’ But just because women weren’t believed doesn’t mean we automatically believe them,” Polito said. “It’s not, ‘hashtag, I Believe Her,’ it’s ‘hashtag, He Didn’t Do This.'”
MacDowell said all those arguments were irrelevant to the question before her—should Wilson have to wear an ankle monitor to ensure he stays away from Keller, or should she take him at his word that he’ll never contact her again?
PubliCola is supported entirely by readers like you.
CLICK BELOW to become a one-time or monthly contributor.
“Yes, in a case where he wasn’t an elected official, if a defendant had posted something on social media, it’s likely it wouldn’t have come to the court’s attention on its own,” she said. But since Wilson is fully aware that he’s an elected official and public figure, and posted the images anyway, “it calls into question the seriousness of the issues that he represented to the court”—that is, whether Wilson’s medical condition really requires him to soak both his legs every single night.
MacDowell gave Wilson until next month to sort out the ankle monitor issue, which will also give him and his lawyer an opportunity to determine if a wrist monitor would work instead. If he ends up with an ankle monitor and still needs to soak his legs regularly, MacDowell suggested, he’s free to come to Sentinel’s office as often as he wants to have them switch the monitor from one leg to the other.
In a statement, Keller said, “I am grateful the court agreed that John Wilson must wear a GPS device to ensure he does not come near me and has no contact with me. He has shown he will not obey court orders and I am concerned for my safety without court assurances. The GPS monitoring device will provide me with that confidence that he must stay away.”