State seeks lengthier sentence for Gallina
Aug. 2—ASOTIN — Washington state attorneys are seeking a stiffer prison sentence for former Superior Court judge Scott D. Gallina.
According to court documents, Seattle attorneys Melanie Tratnik and Sean Waite recently filed a motion asking Spokane County Judge Michael Price to reconsider the 15-month sentence he imposed on Gallina last month.
Gallina, a 58-year-old Clarkston resident, served as the Superior Court judge in Asotin, Columbia and Garfield counties for five years before being arrested for sexual misconduct in 2019. On the day his trial was to begin in April, he pleaded guilty to a felony and a gross misdemeanor — both assaults with sexual motivation — for crimes that occurred against two female co-workers at the Asotin County Courthouse.
The plea agreement reached with the defense, state and approval of both victims, called for a sentencing range of 13-to-27 months behind bars, with the state advocating for the high end.
"The plea agreement was crystal clear what sentence the state would recommend," Tratnik said in court documents.
The attorney general's office believes the Court made a legal error in July, when Gallina appeared before Judge Price in Asotin County. At the time, Price said he was confident a 27-month was warranted in this case, but concluded the sentences for each conviction should run concurrently, rather than consecutively.
"The Court's conclusion that it was not authorized to impose the state's recommended sentence was a clear error of law," Tratnik said in her motion. "The Court should reconsider its erroneous legal conclusion, convene a new sentencing hearing, and re-sentence the defendant to the 27-month sentence that Court has already concluded is justified in this case."
The motion will be heard by Price at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 19, without oral arguments. According to Tratnik, the legal basis for the state's request is, "Washington law is clear that imposition of a gross misdemeanor sentence consecutive to a felony sentence is not an 'exceptional' sentence," as previously argued by defense attorneys Carl Oreskovich and Andrew Wagley, both of Spokane.
Gallina is a Pullman native who had a long career as a defense attorney at Clark and Feeney in Lewiston before being appointed to the bench by Gov. Jay Inslee in 2014.
During an investigation by the Washington State Patrol, the former judge was accused of sexual harassment and unwanted touching by multiple women who worked with him, but the criminal charges were based on contact with two victims.
Gallina is now in custody of a state corrections facility and must register as a sex offender and complete three years of community custody when he's released from prison.
Sandaine can be reached at kerris@lmtribune.com.
