Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney's Office

11/21/2024

I had the distinct privilege of attending the Whatcom County Summit on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People on November 20 at PeaceHealth Community Health Education Center with Whatcom County Prosecutor, Eric Richey. The presentation was very moving, impactful and a call to action.
The Summit brought together leaders from across Whatcom County, including the Bellingham Police Department, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, and other members of local law enforcement. The speakers provided compelling testimony that increased the visibility of missing and murdered indigenous women and people, elevated the voices of survivors, identified systemic gaps, and suggested better and more collaborative solutions.

Thank you to the organizers, including the Lummi Nation, the Nooksack tribe, and indigenous women and people who shared their stories, and thank you to the Commission on Sexual and Domestic Violence for bringing local leaders together for this important cause.

-Erik Sigmar

09/26/2024

05/10/2023

"We want to say congratulations, to a true hero of our community. Detective K. Bowhay, has retired from the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office after 34 years of service. He investigated countless complex cases and fought tirelessly to secure justice for our community.

Throughout his career, Detective Bowhay, was known for his tenacity, kindness, and compassion towards victims. He always went above and beyond to ensure that justice was served and that the people he worked with were treated with respect and dignity.

As a Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office Detective, he had the distinction of serving as a special investigator assigned to the Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for several years. Detective Bowhay, regularly attended Sexual Assault Response Team meetings where he would share his expertise. His presence and input were a huge asset to the meetings, and we were fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with him on many intricate and difficult cases. During his time in our office, he acted as a liaison and investigated and assisted in the prosecution of several high-profile cases including the Mandy Stavik case.

We are incredibly grateful for Detective Bowhay’s unwavering commitment to public safety and his dedication to our community. He has left a lasting impact on all of us, and his legacy will be felt for many years to come.

On behalf of the Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the community we serve, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to Detective Bowhay, for his incredible service. We wish him all the best in his well-deserved retirement and know that he will continue to make a positive impact in the lives of those around him.

Congratulations, Detective Bowhay! You are already missed."

Photo courtesy of Whatcom County Sheriff's Office.

05/01/2023

Whatcom County Prosecutor, Eric Richey and Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, Erik Sigmar, were in attendance on April 27, 2023 to honor the Lummi Nation’s proactive leadership and for the Grand Opening and Blessing Ceremony of Lummi’s New Life Center, X’awes Hellist Ew’xw, Stabilization & Recovery Services Center located at 2616 Kwina Road.

The detox and wellness center provides seven beds and 24/7 supervision designed for individuals seeking help with substance use disorders, including medical management for withdrawal symptoms. The New Life Center is designed to blend elements of existing outpatient treatment services along with cultural healing therapy. The Lummi Nation is leading the way towards addressing the Fentanyl epidemic and this is the beginning of their larger vision to help heal the community.

Lummi Nation Police Department

04/28/2023

On Wednesday, April 26, 2023, officers of the Bellingham Police Department executed search warrants on four locations related to a series of investigations into chronic, repeated and prolific instances of graffiti “tagging” throughout Bellingham. The specific graffiti “tags” were “HOME,” “RHIZO,” “NOID,” and “MAZE” aka “EZMA.” Evidence seized during the searches supported the investigation.

One tag was documented 282 times with estimated restitution costs of $27,582 for associated clean-up to various downtown business owners and others. A second tag was documented 320 times, with estimated costs of $37,762. A third tag was documented 61 times, with estimated costs of $9308. A fourth was documented 138 times with costs estimated at $16,930.

The investigations have implicated four individuals. The Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office will be filing felony Malicious Mischief charges against all four persons. Thus far, two individuals have been arrested and a first appearance is expected on May 12, 2023, at 8:30 am.

The investigation into these matters is ongoing. If anyone has further information on these investigations, including the possibility of reporting additional instances of graffiti tagging within the City of Bellingham, you may email Don Almer, Deputy Chief, Bellingham Police Department at [email protected]. Questions pertaining to the prosecutions of these matters may be directed to Eric Richey at 360-778-5710 or email [email protected].

02/14/2023

EXPLAINING HOW DISTRICT COURT WORKS:

People are wondering how the disqualification of District Court Judge Jonathan Rands became overblown and a distraction. In short, our office legally disqualified Judge Rands from a number of cases, and the judge refused to follow the law and recuse himself. A higher judge has now ruled that he was wrong.

Here is the explanation regarding how this normally works and why it became an issue in this situation:

The filing of an affidavit of prejudice, sometimes known as a notice of disqualification, is not unusual. An affidavit of prejudice permits a litigant to disqualify a judge they think might not be fair in a particular case. Filing these affidavits is a right of all litigants, including both defendants and prosecutors. I have personally filed some affidavits and I bet that Judge Rands filed some when he was a private attorney.

All judges in Whatcom County receive these affidavits of prejudice. Some judges receive more than others for various reasons. Some judges don’t like them. Others are indifferent. But all of them follow the law and recuse themselves when they are filed.

What made this situation different was how Judge Rands reacted to receiving affidavits. Rather than recuse himself as law requires, he rejected them. He didn’t follow the law, and his reasons were not (proper/legal/sensible/sufficient). He tried to say our office filed the affidavits too late, which was (incorrect). Our office had to ask a higher court to make him follow the law. Yesterday Judge Robert Olson of the Whatcom County Superior Court told Judge Rands that rejecting the affidavits was “obvious error.”

Judge Olson further chastised those who attempted to win this case in the court of public opinion rather than the court of law. This included attorneys who knew (or should know) the law. Judge Olson had especially strong words for the lower court judges who wrote an opinion piece in the Herald for inappropriately attempting to influence his decision.

There is a written statute that allows anyone who goes to court to disqualify one judge they don’t think will be fair in their case. Doing this requires no proof of prejudice or even a reason.

Even though it wasn’t required, the Whatcom County Prosecutor’s Office had a valid reason. That reason was to protect community safety. My office had no plans to disqualify Judge Rands until he indicated that he was going to entertain motions to dismiss DUI cases based on (failed) arguments he spearheaded as a DUI defense attorney prior to becoming a judge. He had an apparent conflict in these specific cases. My deputy prosecutors told me about this, and we decided that disqualifying Judge Rands was the proper legal thing to do and necessary to protect the community.
DUI’s must be taken seriously. They are inherently dangerous and can lead to serious injury or death. DUI is so serious that our State legislature has proposed lowering the legal breath test limit in DUI cases this year.

We had ten (10) days to act from the date Judge Rands was assigned the cases, so we acted quickly. Judge Rands’ refusal to recuse himself was very odd, and his eagerness to hear these cases made me even more concerned.

The one-sided stories that began to pop up in the media from attorneys were even more concerning. Judge Rands’ own attorney, Steve Hayne, suggested that I might have filed the affidavits for political reasons. Other opinions followed, largely ignoring the law in favor of critiquing the practice of disqualifying judges, which is legal and a regular practice employed by most attorneys. I could not respond because the rules of professional conduct prohibit me from speaking to the press while litigation was pending and my office is a party. I can speak now.

I was not motivated by politics to file affidavits of prejudice, as some speculated. I only required Judge Rands to recuse himself from DUI cases he had a close connection with from his private practice prior to becoming a judge. If I was such a political zealot, I wouldn’t have said nice things about Jonathan Rands in the Western Front newspaper, in October of 2022, just prior to his election.
https://www.westernfrontonline.com/article/2022/10/whatcom-county-judge-candidates-campaign-on-equitable-access-to-justice. The truth is that I had no animosity toward Jonathan Rands. His refusal to follow the law came as a surprise, and we dealt with it by simply asking a higher court for review. And we were right.
I’d like to note that Judge Rands was disqualified from only about 6% of District Court cases. Our filing affidavits has not caused a burden or increased costs to District Court.

Since Judge Olson put this distraction to rest, I now hope and expect that business in District Court will go on as normal.

02/06/2023

On January 23, 2023, Randolph McIntyre was brought to trial on two counts of Child Molestation in the First Degree and two counts of In**st in the Second Degree. After hearing from the survivor and members of her family, on February 2nd, 2023, Mr. McIntyre was brought to justice and found guilty as charged. He was immediately taken into custody pending sentencing, which is scheduled for next month.

To the family, thank you for having the courage to speak up. To the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office, thank you for your perseverance in seeing this case through. And to the jury, thank you for bearing witness to the family's story.

This case was Prosecuted by Senior Prosecuting Attorneys Maggie Peach and Benjamin Pratt, and investigated by Detective Erik Francis.

10/07/2022

The Whatcom County Prosecutor's Office is hiring a clerk/receptionist.

Please apply or share this exciting opportunity! Posting closes October 16, 2022

https://wa-whatcomcounty.civicplushrms.com/careers/JobDetail.aspx?enc=QPQDKqwXNuJybHyCBjvzp/GRt/qhQmBDlEsHfj/JcZRfg6+IFyRUQ4r3zD+b6duL

10/05/2022

SENTENCING UPDATE: Over three years ago, Stephanie Cresswell-Brenner broke up with Rigoberto Galvan. Mr. Galvan then broke into her home and murdered her for it.

Beginning on August 22, 2022, Mr. Galvan was tried for Aggravated Murder in the First Degree Domestic Violence and Burglary in the First Degree. The case was Prosecuted by Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Erik Sigmar and Senior Deputy Prosecutor Benjamin Pratt. Bellingham Police Department Detective Travis Hauri and Crime Scene Investigator Melissa Whipple were the lead investigators on the case.

On September 15, 2022, after testimony from witnesses and experts, Mr. Galvan was convicted as charged of Aggravated Murder in the First Degree Domestic Violence and Burglary in the First Degree. We thank the jury for their service to this community.

On October 3, 2022, Stephanie’s family and friends provided a voice for her at sentencing. After hearing from them, Judge Evan Jones imposed the mandated sentence of life in prison without any possibility of parole.

The Whatcom County Prosecutor’s Office remains committed to the prosecution of domestic violence cases. We encourage those who experience, or have friends or family who experience, domestic violence or abuse to seek the following services.

DVSAS - Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services of Whatcom County 360-671-5714
National Domestic Violence hotline: 800-799-7233

09/16/2022

Rigoberto Galvan fatally shot and killed his ex-girlfriend Stephanie Cresswell-Brenner. Yesterday, September 15, 2022, he was convicted of Aggravated Murder in the First Degree Domestic Violence and Burglary in the First Degree by a jury of his peers. This is a capital crime. Sentencing will be on the 3rd of October at 1:30 p.m. This will end an over three year long journey to bring Mr. Galvan to justice. We thank the jury for their service. A special thanks to the Bellingham Police Department and the witnesses who made themselves available to testify. Thank you for taking a stand against Domestic Violence. We understand this was a difficult case to be a part of and will likely remain in all of our memories for many years to come. This case was Prosecuted by Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Erik Sigmar and Senior Deputy Prosecutor Benjamin Pratt.

08/03/2022

SENTENCING UPDATE:

On August 2, 2022 the court sentenced Kamee Dixon to 34 years in prison for the aggravated homicide by abuse of a three-year-old child.

The Whatcom County Prosecutor’s Office urged the court to impose 57 years in prison, based on the jury finding that the victim was particularly vulnerable and that the defendant abused a position of trust. We believe 57 years would have been a fair and just sentence, but we understand that sentencing is the court’s purview and respect the court’s authority. We are obviously saddened by this case, but thank all of those who keep the victim’s memory alive.

In remembrance, we would ask the community to be vigilant and to immediately report suspected abuse of children.

08/03/2022

Edited 7/5/22: We neglected to thank our legal team for their time and hard work on this case: Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Erik Sigmar, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Gordon Jenkins, Paralegal Anna Webb and Detective Craig Frank from the Bellingham Police Department.

Today, the jury found Kamee Dixon guilty of Aggravated Homicide by Abuse, for the death of a three-year-old child. This concludes the longest known criminal trial in Whatcom County history. Dixon will remain in custody pending sentencing, at which she faces up to life in prison.

The jury concluded that Dixon used her position of trust to commit the crime of homicide by abuse and that she knew or should have known that the victim was particularly vulnerable. The jury, however, was not able to agree as to the other charge, murder in the second degree.

Bringing Kamee Dixon to justice took extraordinary effort. The trial began on March 28, 2022, and ended on June 30, 2022. Over a span of 95 days, the jury heard from over 32 State witnesses. This included representatives of the Bellingham Police Department, Department, Department of Children, Youth and Family Services, King County Medical Examiner's Office , Seattle Children's Hospital, Harborview Medical Center, PeaceHealth St. Joseph Whatcom County Fire Department, in addition to civilian witnesses. Justice would not have been possible without their cooperation and dedication.

To all those who made this possible, and to the jury’s steadfast service, on behalf of the Whatcom County Prosecutor’s Office and the victim’s family, thank you.