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

The Seattle City Attorney has issued an Affidavit of Prejudice in an 
attempt to preclude a radical judge from hearing any criminal cases 
brought by the office.

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.

https://thepostmillennial.com/seattle-city-attorneys-office-moves-to-
disqualify-activist-judge-from-hearing-any-criminal-cases-moving-
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