Seattle City Attorney’s Office moves to disqualify activist judge from hearing any ‘criminal cases moving forward’

On Friday, the Seattle City Attorney’s Office (CAO) announced that it will file the affidavit of prejudice against Seattle Municipal Court Judge Pooja Vaddadi.

According to the CAO, “An affidavit of prejudice is a preemptory disqualification of a judge to hear a case. In this circumstance, the CAO has made the decision to preclude Judge Vaddadi from hearing any criminal cases brought by the CAO.”

Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison said in a statement, “Public safety is among our highest priorities, and this includes trying cases on behalf of those victimized by crime. Unfortunately, we have encountered a regular pattern of biased rulings.”

The decision to issue the affidavit was recommended by CAO Criminal Division Chief Natalie Walton-Anderson and approved by Davison.

Chief Walton-Anderson wrote in a memorandum to the CAO Criminal Division, “For the past several months, we have internally discussed the Criminal Division’s serious concerns with the conduct and rulings of Judge Pooja Vaddadi.”

“Unfortunately, as outlined below, those concerns have only continued to mount in the past several months. As a result, I have made the difficult decision that the office will submit affidavits of prejudice for Judge Vaddadi on all criminal cases moving forward.”

Chief Walton-Anderson informed Judge Vaddadi and Presiding Judge Faye Chess of the CAO’s decision on Wednesday and outlined key issues from the memo alleging that Judge Vaddadi routinely overrules prior findings of probable cause by her fellow judges; repeatedly fails to find probable cause in situations where, clearly, probable cause exists; makes improper rulings related to public safety in domestic violence and DUI cases; and frequently makes erroneous evidentiary rulings for unjustified reasons, rather than articulating any legal analysis.

Chief Walton-Anderson wrote in the CAO memo, “Judge Vaddadi routinely raises arguments on behalf of defendants without prompting or argument from their own attorneys.”

“The resounding input from attorneys that have appeared in her courtroom is that her decisions demonstrate a complete lack of understanding, or perhaps even intentional disregard, of the evidence rules, even on basic issues.”

Seattle has been suffering from a so-called “revolving door” justice system for years, where prosecutors chose not to prosecute crimes or liberal judges chose not to sentence criminals appropriately.

Davison was elected in 2021 by voters who finally had enough of the ongoing chaos in the Emerald City.

Since then, her office has worked to target prolific offenders in Seattle who are responsible for a majority of the crimes.

On Friday, Davison’s office also announced it was reviewing criminal charges against a group of activists who disrupted last week's city council meeting demanding the city provide housing for illegal immigrants.

The announcement was a 180 degree pivot under a new more moderate council from the previous radical council that allowed activists to control the agenda.