Eric S. Valley, esq. disciplined by State Bars wants to be Judge

(NOTE: Be advised–Eric has been afforded ample opportunity here, in the ‘reply’ exchanges, unlike most blogs, for rebuttal, but has, unsurprisingly,  primarily used it for blanket denials and gaslighting.  UPDATED @ article’s end)

Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus

Great trombone player and respects music…but the law? Nor so much.

Shelton, WA — This reporter was present when a bench warrant was issued for Eric Valley, a local attorney, for failure to appear (as noted below) in Mason County District Court as required. Today (8-12-2018) Mr. Valley is one of the surviving two candidates (Valley and Steele) for Mason County District Court judge…there being only one such position for this important county office.

Eric Stephen Valley, defendant – Mason District Court – case #: 4Z0704742 – filed 7-7-14

Click>HERE<to view NY State Bar Disciplinary action against Eric S. Valley, et ux. (1988)

Click>HERE<for list of disciplinary actions & critical client reviews of Eric S. Valley, esq on AVVO.

Mr. Valley, who has a checkered past and long acted as a local attorney, both on the criminal docket as well as the civil. Unfortunately, due to his respected family’s long residence in Mason county, Valley undeservedly garners the benefit of strong name recognition from local voters…a local boy familiarity he expertly exploited in his primary campaign. Yet he not only has been embroiled in some serious litigation as either a defendant or a plaintiff (including an action seeking a protection order against Mr. Valley in the abstract below), but now has been sanctioned by the Washington State Bar (and previously the New York State bar) for professional misconduct. In 1988, Mr. Eric Valley resigned from the NY State bar for misconduct…conduct Mr. Valley attempts to trivialize, but was punished (in both NY & WA) by a public reprimand (or worse) from the respective State bars.

What doesn’t appear in these records is Mr. Valley’s history of substance/alcohol abuse and using his familiarity with local law enforcement to successfully urge at least one Mason county sheriff’s detective (Dean Byrd, now retired since 2013) to harass, bully, threaten, and intimidate this reporter (circa 2005) for having the temerity to serve Mr. Valley with a notice of default at his office on behalf of Marylou Bishop, the note holder for his deed of trust from the sale of her home to Eric Valley, an instrument whose terms he soon breached, putting Mary’s (a retired nurse) collateral and retirement at risk. Mason county was scheduled to foreclose on said home for want of property taxes Valley owed and hadn’t paid. Mary had to pay them out of her own pocket to avoid losing her most valuable asset.

Mr. Valley promptly filed for bankruptcy relief singling out Mary Lou Bishop as his creditor although the IRS also had an interest in Valley’s financial affairs for unpaid taxes. Singling out a creditor is considered abuse/misuse of the bankruptcy code. In his sworn declarations submitted to the bankruptcy court, Eric claimed his monthly gross income was ~$2,500.  He failed to declare his business or office expenses, an office he maintains on Railroad Ave. in Shelton to this day and appears to never have missed a payment on the lease (to Transamerica Title), unlike his obligation to Marylou Bishop, who could not find an area attorney to sue Eric for breach of contract BECAUSE (they indicated) HE WAS A LAWYER!

The most damning part of this incident arises from the fact Eric Valley attempted to suborn perjury from Marylou Bishop. She was desperate to have Eric resume payments to her for the house he was purchasing from her (and continues to live in to this day). He suggested to her that if she would write a letter attesting to the false assertion that he had never been late on a payment to her, he would use it to refinance the loan (which Mary was personally carrying) with a bank and pay her off for the remaining principle.  Had she done so, Eric would have succeeded in making Mary a co-conspirator to bank fraud! Mary was counseled to do NO such thing, and Eric’s bankruptcy petition followed shortly thereafter. Eric had also let the casualty and fire insurance for the home lapse, leaving Mary utterly exposed and unable to secure insurance to protect her interests. According to the owner, at the time, of Angle Insurance Agency, the industry considered Mary’s predicament a “moral hazard”.  A corrupt attorney’s moral failure had left Mary virtually without an effective remedy.

While on the phone with the Angle Insurance Agency’s owner (a woman who was very familiar with Eric’s parents) attempting to find an insurance policy to protect Mary, who should call but the devil himself. In accepting the call, Eric was patched into a 3-way call, but the insurance agency owner chose to remain silent. Eric sounded heavily inebriated and aggressively became belligerent and verbally abusive before the call was terminated. Rather than being sympathetic to the recipient of the abuse, she accused him of ‘planning’ it! How she squared this with serendipity wasn’t immediately apparent.

Soon thereafter (perhaps a week) Detective Dean Byrd (Eric’s drinking buddy at the time) called and proceeded to announce he was an inspector with the Mason County Sheriff (true) but initially refused to identify himself when asked to repeat who he was. He attempted to threaten and intimidate on Eric’s behalf, repeatedly asking just who had prepared the document (notice of default) Eric had been served with. (“Mr. Byrd, you know what?–I don’t have to answer that question…and I’m not going to!” was the response Byrd got before bidding him goodbye. Subsequent research revealed that no sheriff’s official or prosecuting attorney had authorized Byrd’s actions. It was entirely a ‘favor’ of intimidation for Eric, Byrd’s drinking buddy–a shakedown.

The obvious QUESTION arises:

IS THIS CORRUPT ATTORNEY, ERIC VALLEY, THE KIND OF JUDGE MASON COUNTY RESIDENTS WANT SITTING ON THE BENCH?

George Steele may not be adequately competent, but at least he hasn’t been sanctioned by the bar multiple times, had a petition for a protection order filed against him, subjected himself to the disabilities of drug and alcohol abuse, had a bench warrant issued against him for failure to appear, suborned perjury, and conspired with county law enforcement to abuse their authority in order to harass, bully, threaten, and intimidate. Neither has George Steele submitted suspicious bankruptcy declarations in an effort to vex and delay his lawful debt to a retired nurse dependent on the income from the sale of her home.

TORT for Vehicle Collision Damage & Eric’s Response:

17-2-00456-23

17-2-00456-23 17-2-00456-23 (1)

Court: Mason Co Superior Ct
Case Number: 13-2-00255-1 (Unlawful Harassment)
[Please read the court record documents below the index, added due to Eric’s repeated denial he was a defendant in this action, NOT merely appointed/hired counsel!]

Sub Docket Date Docket Code Docket Description Misc Info
04-24-2013 FILING FEE RECEIVED Filing Fee Received
04-24-2013 CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION FORM Confidential Information Form
1 04-24-2013 PET FOR OR OF PROTECTION-HARASSMENT Pet For Or Of Protection-harassment
2 04-24-2013 TEMP ANTIHAR PROT ORD RESP UNDER 18
ACTION
Temp Antihar Prot Ord Resp Under 18
Protection Order Anti-harassment
05-08-2013MC
04-24-2013 EX-PARTE ACTION WITH ORDER
COM0004
Ex-parte Action With Order
Comm. Stephen T. Whitehouse
3 04-25-2013 RETURN OF SERVICE Return Of Service
4 04-25-2013 RETURN OF SERVICE Return Of Service
5 05-07-2013 RECUSAL OF JUDGE
JDG0001
Recusal Of Judge Amber Finlay
Judge Amber L. Finlay
6 05-07-2013 DECLARATION Declaration Response By Eric Valley
6.1 05-07-2013 RESPONSE Response To Show Cause
6.2 05-07-2013 RECUSAL OF JUDGE
COM0005
Recusal Of Judge
Comm. Robert D. Sauerlender
7 05-08-2013 ORDER OF DISMISSAL Order Of Dismissal
8 05-08-2013 MOTION HEARING Motion Hearing
9 05-09-2013 RECUSAL OF JUDGE
COM0001
Recusal Of Comm Adamson
Commissioner Richard Adamson

Party

Respondent (WIP)
VALLEY, EMILY KATHLEEN

DOB
XX/XX/1997


Respondent (WIP)
VALLEY, ERIC STEPHEN

DOB
XX/XX/1961


Petitioner (WIP)
HUFFMAN, ERIN CHRISTINE

DOB
XX/XX/1973


Minor (WIP)
HUFFMAN, JOESEPH ADAM

DOB
XX/XX/1996


Attorney for Involved Party (Participant)
JUDGE AMBER FINLAY RECUSED, NFN


Attorney for Involved Party (Participant)
ADAMSON RECUSED, NFN


Attorney for Involved Party (Participant)
SAUERLENDER RECUSED, NFN

04/24/2013 Petition for Order of Protection Unlawful Harassment

Eric Stephen Valley, esq, (360)426-4959 evalley@hctc.com
209 W. Railroad Ave.
Shelton, WA 98584

WSBA Bar#: 21184 Member Name: Eric Valley
Action: Reprimand Effective Date: 08/07/2012
RPC: 1.4 – Communication
1.5 – Fees
1.15A – Safeguarding Property
Discipline Notice:
Description: Eric Valley, (WSBA No. 21184, admitted 1991), of Shelton, was reprimanded, effective August 7, 2012, pursuant to an Order Approving Stipulation to reprimand. This discipline is based on conduct involving failure to safeguard client property, failure to communicate, and failure to communicate the rate or basis of fees.

On April 8, 2011, Client A paid Mr. Valley $500 to represent him in his dissolution matter. There was no written fee agreement. Mr. Valley failed to deposit the fee into his trust account. On April 11, 2011, Client A paid Mr. Valley an additional $1,500; Mr. Valley again failed to deposit the funds into his trust account. Over the next two months, Mr. Valley periodically asked Client A for additional funds. Mr. Valley never gave Client A a contemporaneous billing statement or explained whether the money would be put in trust for future fees or used for fees already incurred. Client A made three additional payments to Mr. Valley between April 27, 2011, and May 9, 2011. At least part of these funds were unearned when received but Mr. Valley did not deposit any of the funds into his trust account.

In January 2011, Client B hired Mr. Valley to represent her in a custody modification action against Ex-Husband. Over the next two months, Mr. Valley met with Client B several times. On April 1, 2011, Client B’s mother (Mother) delivered a check to Mr. Valley for $1,500. On August 1, 2011, Mother delivered an additional $300 to Mr. Valley. Mr. Valley did not provide either Client B or Mother with a receipt for these funds and never provided a billing statement detailing the work that he had done on the case, the amount of fees that he had incurred, and when they had been incurred. On June 20, 2011, Ex-Husband filed a petition seeking to relocate to California with the children and served a copy on Mr. Valley, not Client B. Mr. Valley did not provide Client B with a copy of the petition. On August 5, 2011, Ex-Husband filed a proposed parenting plan and served it on Mr. Valley; the proposed parenting plan restricted all of Client B’s residential time to the state of California. Mr. Valley did not provide a copy of the proposed parenting plan to Client B
.
Mr. Valley’s conduct violated RPC 1.4(a)(3), requiring a lawyer to keep the client reasonably informed about the status of the matter; RPC 1.5(b), requiring a lawyer to communicate to the client, preferably in writing, before or within a reasonable time after commencing the representation except when the lawyer will charge a regularly represented client on the same basis or rate; RPC 1.15A(c)(2), requiring a lawyer to deposit into a trust account legal fees and expenses that have been paid in advance, to be withdrawn by the lawyer only as fees are earned or expenses incurred; and RPC 1.15A(e), requiring a lawyer to promptly provide a written accounting to the client or third person after distribution of property or upon request and provide at least annually a written accounting to client or third person for whom the lawyer is holding funds.

Francesca D’Angelo represented the Bar Association. Mr. Valley represented himself. J.C. Becker was the Hearing Officer.

UPDATE

Eric Valley’s past comes calling…COLLECT!

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26 Responses to Eric S. Valley, esq. disciplined by State Bars wants to be Judge

  1. Eric says:

    Johnny, I keep trying to comment to show how wrong you’ve gotten this, but you’re not accepting comments.

    • admin says:

      No slight intended, just lack of attention. You have been ‘approved’ to comment in your own behalf or otherwise. The articles here are merely based on public records…which sometimes are remiss when it comes to factual details, even (on occasion) accepting legal fiction as ‘fact’. Reporting here is sometimes influenced by personal knowledge unknown to the general public, and no ‘legal fiction’ is involved. e.g. Suborning perjury.

      1st Amendment principles are a priority here. An accused should always have the meaningful right to confront his/her accusers. The standards and agenda deployed by the WA State Bar are admittedly suspect/controversial in their disciplinary proceedings. But, when you dance with the Devil in the pale moonlight….?

      P.S. A search of this blog’s archives reveals NO attempts by Eric, et al, to post a rebuttal comment. So any implied apology for want of attentiveness may have been premature! And the use of the diminutive addressed to this reporter is highly inappropriate, given the circumstances and facts.

  2. admin says:

    You don’t direct me. I don’t have a substance abuse problem, you have no basis for any implication that I have ever “suborned perjury” and again, George is unfit – so you do the world a disservice by sending your messages.
    Plus, nobody believes you, and everyone knows you’re a crank.
    You’re are so negative and so toxic. I wish you love.

    I have asked you OVER AND OVER to meet. I ask you again. You won’t meet with me because you know my arguments – why none of what you say works against me – will win you over.

    Defy that challenge at your and all of our peril.
    10:51PM

    Facebook msg RESPONSE:
    I’d be happy to meet/interview you in public Let me know. I may be ‘toxic’ (to you), but I know the truth and am unafraid to utter it. You do NOT belong on the bench, your blanket denials notwithstanding. Suborning perjury is not trivial, nor is substance & alcohol abuse or threats and intimidation from you and/or your buddy, Dean Byrd, when he was with the sheriff’s office. The truth, Eric, WILL out! Count on it. The voters/public are free to believe/disbelieve me/you, but I WILL afford them that opportunity and I truly dread the idea of a corrupt lawyer on the bench. I’m not a huge fan of George Steele (lack of mental horse power and competence as well as judicial demeanor) but I have no knowledge of his being corrupt. You, on the other hand…..

    Some people, including a few lawyers I know think you’re a nice guy. Perhaps they don’t know you as well as I do. There is NO room for a lack of integrity on the bench. The public record, of which I have included some herein, bears me out.

    As to me being a “crank”, or readers believing me, that remains to be seen. I will, however, work hard to reveal what I know before the election, and I will go to the judicial conduct commission afterward, if necessary. I failed to act when Marylou Bishop first told me of you urging her to make out a false letter attesting to your payments history on the home she sold you, which would have implicated her in a scheme to defraud a bank if you had succeeded. You did not.

  3. admin says:

    From Eric Valley via Facebook messaging:
    2:52AM

    You will not interview me and we will not communicate again until you tell me what you mean by implying that I suborned perjury.

    Dean Byrd is not my buddy. I REALIZE NOW THAT YOU HAVE CONFUSED ME WITH SOMEONE ELSE!! Funny.

    RESPONSE:
    Dean Byrd used YOUR name (Eric Valley) in demanding to know (circa 2005) WHO prepared the notice of default I served on you at your office for breach of your duty to make regular payments to Marylou Bishop for her home you’d purchased as well as the property taxes and insurance for it. You failed to do so. You took umbrage at my reminding you you’d failed to keep your word to Mary when you promised to contact her two days earlier to discuss the matter and your breach of the terms of purchase. It was well known that you and Byrd drank together at that time. Mary confided to me your scheme to have her write a letter falsifying your payment history which you claimed you’d use to refinance the loan. I believe the truth is you may have been trying to set her up (you’re a clever guy) but she didn’t fall for it. I am not confusing you with anyone else. You are lying. When that didn’t pan out, you filed for bankruptcy to delay payments to Mary. Perhaps YOU are confused? You don’t recall calling me on the phone in your inebriated state and verbally threatening/harassing me? The Angle Insurance owner heard your entire rant, unbeknownst to you given her silence until I hung up on you. She actually wanted to like you for your family’s sake but was embarrassed and shocked from hearing you in the impromptu 3-way call to the point of expressing anger after your call was terminated. Dean Byrd wasn’t shy at all about dropping your name and wanting to know what my involvement with your foreclosure predicament (who had prepared the paperwork I served on you). Facts and records are stubborn things, Eric. And I don’t NEED to meet with or engage you. I’m not running for office, you are. There is a litany of minutiae I haven’t bothered to reveal such as your conversations with Bruce Finlay about me. Your denial having Dean Byrd act as your agent/thug is laughable as even he doesn’t deny it these years later when I confronted him about it. Given who you truly are, it’s not surprising the best you can do is try to weasel out of accepting responsibility for your actions. You’re all show and NO go…and you certainly don’t belong in judge’s robes no matter how erudite or clever you may be…or even how obtuse George Steele may be (I won’t deny it).

    If you were just an honest dedicated and self disciplined attorney, You’d be my favorite candidate, perhaps. But I cannot abide a corrupt person sitting on the bench even in the face of an incompetent tin eared judge taking the position. I’m about to post all your bankruptcy schedules and sworn declarations to make my point. As to the substance abuse, et al, did you think you could keep that a secret? Judge Larry King thought he could too. He was wrong. So are you. Jeeze, you could have gone far with a little impulse control and less narcissism & arrogance. You really believe I’m beneath you, don’t you? It’s not that you believe anyone is above the law, just that some people are beneath it…and you. I’ve got plenty of more material to bring to the table, counselor–your call!

    • Eric Valley says:

      Dean Byrd was probably investigating your illegal practice of law. I had nothing to do with any contact you ever had with him.

  4. Eric says:

    John – It is obvious that you have a vendetta. Much of what you say is false, much else is misleading. I have been sober for almost 14 years.

    Your ill will will poison you (and has poisoned you) from the inside.

    I am trying to do what is best for the people of my home; I am far and away the better candidate for District Court Judge.

    I wish you the best.

    Eric Valley

  5. Eric Valley says:

    I’m just not who you say and think I am. If you knew me at all, then you would know that.

    Eric Valley

  6. Eric says:

    I will meet you any time, any place.

  7. admin says:

    Your blanket denials are unavailing. I, and others know you well enough to comment on your shortcomings when it comes to your integrity. You deny all criticisms (AVVO) regardless of the source. According to you, we’re all confused/lying. You DID attempt to get Marylou Bishop to lie for your regarding your house payment history. Dean Byrd did act as your agent when he called me a week after you made your harassing phone call. You sounded like you were in a drunken stupor. The phone call was heard by the lady at Angle Insurance Agency as well as, of course, myself. Mary came pretty close to losing what had been her home before moving to Nevada to live in a trailer in the desert (all she could afford) because of YOU! And then you had the gall to take umbrage because *I* served you with a notice of default for foreclosure, you arrogant prick? And then tried to sic your dog, Dean Byrd, on me for it. And NOW, you want to be judge (?!?!) because you believe (correctly) that George Steele is out of touch and his judicial temperament sucks? What about your integrity…or more precisely, the lack thereof? Why should the voters put you on the bench despite your lack of ethics/honesty?

    I never filed a bar complaint against you, though I should have. You have been disciplined by two state bars all on your own. But for you to be sitting on a judge’s bench now with your moral/ethical defects is intolerable…maybe in another lifetime. I see nothing more scrupulous about you now, just rhetoric. I will produce a signed statement from Byrd and Bishop when I find them to forward to the judicial conduct commission, testing whether prior bad acts by you should serve as a bar to your holding office as a judge. A vendetta? Hardly. That would have started, had it existed, in 2004. The public would have been better served if it had, but perhaps it’s not too late since they have a dog in this controversy.

  8. admin says:

    7:18AM (from Eric’s Facebook messages)

    Never ever. Mary Lou took care of my mom in hospice and I bought my house from her. I have no idea what u r talking about, and I don’t dissemble – I don’t think that means what you think it means.
    And I’m not corrupt. What on earth are you talking about?

    Steele puts million dollar bails on indigent misdemeanor clients. Unconstitutional.

    Steele bans all children from the courtroom. Unconstitutional.

    Steele refuses to allow people to purge contempt. Unconstitutional.

    Steele would kill people by telling them they must struggle with addiction after he’s heard repeatedly on the record that struggling fails and the only solution is surrender. Dangerous.

    Steele gets the law wrong on a regular basis. Unconstitutional.

    I could go on. But I got reprimanded and you don’t like me. Evil.

    RESPONSE:
    Eric, I spelled it out more than once. You urged Marylou to write a letter falsifying your payment history to her. Got it yet? I know about that because my client, Marylou Bishop, confided it to me. I know about Dean Byrd because he called me about my serving process on you. I know about your breach of contract inasmuch as I personally delivered the payment from Mary to the county to prevent it from foreclosing on the home, no thanks to you. I know about you because YOU called me and it doesn’t appear you’ve changed your stripes when anyone displeases you, including yor discussion with Bruce Finlay about “taking me down”. (talk about vendettas!) All because YOU didn’t like being served with process for abandoning your financial responsibilities to the woman who cared for your ailing mother in hospice care! Just because Marylou Bishop is a decent person and professional, doesn’t make you one.

    You’re correct–I don’t like you…for very good reason. But I’ve encouraged people to vote for candidates I don’t personally like many times.

    You’re also correct about George Steele. I don’t like him (personally) either, although I don’t agree with your vacuous pronouncements regarding the constitutionality of his decisions. Nevertheless, he’s a lousy judge and was a lousy deputy prosecutor in Thurston County as well as a half-baked attorney when in private practice–although an apparently HONEST one on all counts. His ‘build more and bigger jails’ mantra is visibly obnoxious to most voters in Mason county.

    If voters could be fully informed of all the dirt on both of you, perhaps they could intelligently choose between the lesser of two evils. Who knows? You spend a lot of time promoting yourself as the local home town boy. So the local voters must deserve an opportunity to get to know more about you including what you obviously don’t want exposed.

    Coincidentally, George has some baggage too…primarily incompetence and arrogance wherein he views the law as something that must be done TO (rather than with) the community. But I see you (based on your behavior and words) as an elitist too…very much so.

    George Steele, when a prosecutor in Thurston, charged me with phone harassment of a TESC security guard named Larry Savage (now happily residing in Hell along with his dead wife…both deservedly suffered very painful deaths from natural causes). The supposed evidence against me was a tape recording I left on Larry’s answering machine while he was recovering at that time in a hospital from a smoking related heart attack. We were within minutes of trial in Thurston District Court and George had never even LISTENED to the tape! Neither had the police detectives. Neither had my public defender! It was the sole ‘evidence’ against me. The public defender must have sensed I was about to ask the court to dismiss him for failure to defend when he asked for a recess in order to listen to the tape, which we did in the presence of Thurston’s detectives. It contained my voice wishing Larry Savage and hs wife, Marcia, a Merry Christmas and condolences–a brief message of less than 30 seconds. Upon hearing it, one detective exclaimed, “That’s it?” “Yeah,” I said, “Crime of the century, isn’t it?!” We returned to court and the judge granted the public defender’s impromptu motion to dismiss with prejudice. Prosecutor George Steele was asleep at the wheel.

    Years later, while sharing an office with Bruce Finlay and Bob Brungardt, I served process for George on a cop in Bremerton. It was like pulling teeth to get him to pay me until I marched into his office demanding payment, embarrassing him in front of the other attorneys and secretary. He paid grudgingly.

    Then there was the matter of a mother who would never stick up for herself, therby losing custody of her son in her divorce years earlier. George represented the father, a financially well off man with a substantial income remarried to a woman with the same. Additionally, his 18 year old son the court had awarded him custody of was employed full time at the Simpson mill pulling down very respectable adult wages, no less. And although the father had the gall to argue his son was a ‘dependent’ in his action to compel the mother (who had NO secondary education herself, worked minimum wage jobs while couch surfing, and despite numerous periods of unemployment, maintained her child support punctually) to pay for the child’s maintenance and college tuition even though the boy earned MORE than the mother!

    George Steele was approached (by me) and urged to drop the motion to extend child support beyond the boy’s majority under the circumstances. “It will be like pissing up a rope,” George was advised. George not only dismissed the suggestion out of hand but griped to Bruce Finlay that the recommendation sounded like ‘barratry’.

    George had docketed the motion, but failed to show or even notify the pro se mother he wouldn’t be there, needlessly causing the destitute mother to lose earnings from her shift due to the scheduling conflict. Incredibly, the court (Wickham, the worst judge in Thurston county at that time) granted a continuance sua sponte. George did show up the following week on time (9:00 a.m.) but was kept cooling his heels, trailing the calendar with the father in tow inside the court until 4:00 p.m. because my client failed to confirm the calendar before noon on the required day for such confirmation. Thus both George and his client lost a credible amount of $ in terms of lost wagws/income. They also lost the case. Wickham ruled against them and found “no basis” to grant the relief they sought. George pissed up a rope and predictably failed.

    Still, to his credit, he recused himself, sua sponte, when I came before him as a judge pro tem in Mason District Court for a traffic infraction. So far as I know, George is a barely competent (if that) attorney/judge, but an HONEST one.

    That is the meat and potatoes of it: An arrogant, incompetent, elitist, tin eared judge who thinks bigger jails are a community’s salvation vs. a more erudite but equally arrogant unethical attorney who wants to assume Vicky Meadow’s (the one who issued a bench warrant for Eric Valley for FTA) bench in the Mason County District Court. The decision is up to the voters and the court of public opinion from which there is NO appeal, Perhaps the voters will decide this time to choose the lesser of two evils rather than the devil they know, i.e. their hometown boy. Break the cycle. Become informed before you vote for a candidate running for such an important position.

    OR…you could launch the start of a much bigger jail–they’re guaranteed to fill it.

  9. admin says:

    from Ceci Dean Luedtke on Facebook messenger:
    6:51PM

    .there is much you don’t know or misrepresent in your article. Eric is older, wiser and sober.. I think you should not spread deceit and half truths. You put out information gotten from the courts with no background, that’s misrepresentation. As a journalist .you should be unbiased. And FYI, Im a Para Legal, his close friend for over 40 years and set up his office and have worked for him. I most likely have a much better grasp and personal knowledge than you do about him.
    The thing i want you to know most is..
    He older, wiser, and has changed and evolved as we all have. Your vendetta only hurts our county. Because if elected George Steel .will violate the constitution on a daily basis.

    RESPONSE:
    I am not a George Steele fan, for good reason, but I think the ‘unconstitutional’ argument is overreaching. The courts give judges wide latitude in maintaining control and decorum in their courtroom, unfortunately, just as they do in setting bail and other complaints criticizing George Steele. But, I think he’s an honest jerk. Eric is not, and I know that for a fact, even if he managed to hide it from you. Nor has he ever appologized for it, he simply denies it. I never said I was unbiased when it comes to electing ethical officials. What I’ve published is absolutely true and I stand by it.

    Consider: How would you know? Would Eric have confided in you that he attempted to get Marylou Bishop to write a letter falsifying his payment history, or asking detective Dean Byrd to try intimidating me by asking WHO had drafted the notice of default I served on him at his office? (BTW, I didn’t see you there) Or even his taking umbrage over the fact I served him? I have served hundreds of people in my career and NEVER had anyone react as badly as Eric, an attorney at law, no less. He has been an attorney since at least 1988 when the NY State bar sanctioned him before I met Eric in 2004. What suggests to you he has changed? Denial isn’t change. And as to how you would have even known, would you have continued to work for such an attorney if you had? Do you see my point. Just because you find it hard to believe doesn’t make it untrue. Eric would have hidden it from you and everyone given it could have led to him losing his license to practice law. But Mary knew and she told me about it then, but she never fell for the bait. Eric called ME in a drunken stupor to try to bully me WHILE I was on the phone with the owner/manager of Angle Insurance Agency who heard the entire rant. *I* am the one who carried Mary’s check to the county to save her home from foreclosure due to back taxes Eric owed. I am the one who spent a week unsuccessfully seeking insurance coverage for her to cover what Eric had irresponsibly allowed to lapse. He never missed a payment on his office space to TransAmerica Title Co, or you (40 years working for him?) did he? Just a retired nurse who had given hospice care to Eric’s terminal mother right? And now the guy who told Bruce Finlay, “Let’s take him down,” for having the temerity to serve process on him wants to be judge because George Steele is an arrogant prick as a judge? So you think having a dishonest judge is better than having an incompetent one? Do tell…PLEASE! One should have lost his license, the other could be overruled upon appeal. There’s no way to overturn/appeal a dishonest judge. Eric’s denials make it abundantly clear he’s as dishonest as ever.

    ADDITIONAL RESPONSE:
    If he hid ‘nothing’ from you, then you chose to work for an unethical employer. If he did hide it, you have no basis on which to defend him. Either alternative moots your argument, not to mention you have no direct knowledge of the conversations I had with Marylou, Dean Byrd, Eric, or Bruce Finlay. It is YOU who are speculating, Madam. I know what these conversations consisted of because I participated in them, and now at this late date, I’m taking this occasion and critical juncture to report them.

  10. Eric Valley says:

    John – please correct the following falsehoods (there are others throughout you comments, as well):

    There has never been a bench warrant or any other warrant for me; you refer to a traffic ticket hearing that I had already advised the Court I could not attend due to a scheduling conflict involving a client’s case – the Court dismissed my ticket shortly after – and your statement is false.

    I was NOT the party, as you falsely state, in the protection order case that you mention; I was the attorney. I have previously advised you of this – I now demand that you cease any false statements in this regard.

    I have never suborned perjury or socialized with Dean Byrd. Any comments that you make regarding Mary Lou Bishop, who cared for my late mother, or a house that I bought from Ms. Bishop in or about 1997, refinanced 10 years later, where I raised my wonderful daughter and which I still own and where I still live demean you to such a high degree and reduce you to such a low degree that you are barely worth acknowledging. But as you continue to make false statements about me publicly, with the express intent of damaging me, I respond to this extent.

    • admin says:

      Valley’s denial attempts to confound his drunken threatening demeanor over the phone which both I and the lady at Angle Insurance (in Shelton at the time, 2004) heard…and then the fact ‘inspector’ Dean Byrd of the Mason Co. Sheroff’s office called as Eric’s agent, bullying, refusing to identify himself when asked a second time, and was later revealed as Eric’s drinking buddy. Somewhat later, Eric Invited Bruce Finlay, esq. to “Let’s take him down.”

      Marylou Bishop, the nurse who cared for Eric’s mother and provided her hospice care…a woman who trusted Eric to purchase her home and NEEDED the money, Eric stiffed her, defaulted on the loan note which, unfortunately, she was carrying, defaulted on the property taxes he owed on the purchase (leaving Marylou holding the bag), and defaulted on the casualty-fire insurance, leaving Marylou entirely exposed in the event of loss. Moreover, despite Eric’s denials, Marylou confided Eric DID attempt to persuade her to write a fraudulent letter misrepresenting his payment history to her. The man is corrupt and does not belong on a judge’s bench.

      The problem Mr. Valley has with the bench warrant for his arrest is I was present in the courtroom when judge Vicky Meadows issued it for his FTA. A titter rippled around the courtroom as most Folks there recognized his name. Name recognition is NO reason to elecct anybody, especially to a position as critical as a judge, which demands the utmost integrity, which Eric Valley lacks. A number of his clients who contacted me complained including instances of his missing court dates.

      Consider whether a man who sets his detective pal on a process server because the notice of default in the foreclosure process annoyed him belongs on the bench. Steele may be a jerk, but AFAIK, he’s an honest jerk. Eric is a dishonest jerk banking on being the hometown boy with name recognition and hiding behind blandishments about how Steele is violating the Constitution as judge. It’s not true. While Steele lacks compassion for the great unwashed and thinks bigger jails are the answer for our community, he performs his job honestly. Eric suborns perjury, doesn’t consistently show up when he is supposed to and is unrepentant. This reporter has no knowledge of how Eric resolved his District Court case before judge Meadows. But for him to claim it never happened is simply a lie.

      Eric is in an awkward position. Were he to repent/apologize for these prior bad acts would be tantamount to admitting them, which could potentially cost him his license to practice law (license to steal?). Thus he simply denies everything. But he cannot dodge public opinion when running for public office. The standards of ‘evidence’ there are vastly different than in a court of law. That’s because the public cannot afford dishonest politicians/judges. Hence, even rumors and hearsay regarding a candidate’s integrity are valid causes for concern and voting for an alternate candidate whose integrity is more certain. i.e. A political candidate for public office is not entitled to a presumption of innocence the way a defendant in a criminal case is. Eric attempts to confuse voters by conflating the two. And a man who tried to stiff the nurse (Marylou Bishop) who cared for Eric’s dying mother doesn’t belong on the bench. This man CANNOT be trusted with people’s lives!

  11. Bruce J Finlay says:

    For judge, we need someone unbiased. Objective, impartial and neutral. In fact, the law requires it. Why does it seem so rare then? My theory is that many judges consider their jobs to be either community safety or to do what the voters would want them to do . I say this because I have personally heard several judges say one or the other of these. The problem is that both are wrong and both produce judges who start every criminal case, where the defendant is constitutionally presumed to be innocent, with a bias that the judge needs to protect community safety and the voters want her to be tough on criminals. No human being can be impartial, neutral and objective with either of those two beliefs. Yet I personally have heard 3 district court judges express this opinion. How would a judge know what the voters want in any situation? Would they want her to convict an innocent man? Does she take a poll? Assuming that somehow the judge ascertains what the majority of voters want, and follows that, doesn’t that amount to tyranny of the majority – precisely what the judicial branch is supposed to protect our individual rights from! Consider Article One, section one of the Washington Constitution: “All political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights.” Parsing, “all governments are established to protect and maintain individual rights.” NOT collective rights. NOT what the majority wants the judge to do, whatever that is! So how do judges maintain such faulty belief systems? I have no idea at all; but I know they do because I’ve personally heard them say so, once in open court on the record.

    So for judge, choose the candidate that supports the protection of individual rights. In point of law, our Constitution demands it.

    • admin says:

      OK, so avoid bench trials and hope the judge is fair and competent enough to know/interpret the law/rules of evidence. Except our State constitution does not afford us the right to a jury trial for actions in equity! It would also help if the electorate would assume its responsibility by digging deeper into just who candidates running for judge really are.

      Beyond all that, the notion that justice can be had from an adversarial system is a superstition we can no longer abide. Many U.S. trials, devoid of factual evidence, have become little more than an exultation of denunciations…much like the old Soviet model. Rooted in the ancient trial by combat/ordeal tradition, it was thought by most that God was a Yankees fan. He would protect the innocent. God would not allow bad things to happen to good people. Job’s biblical friends believed the same, having no idea God was gambling with Job’s fate.

      Women, children, the weak, the infirm, the elderly might hire a champion/gladiator if they had the right connections or could afford one. Today, we call them attorneys. The King always had an army of ‘champions’/combatants eager to serve. And, the King could not be sued for any miscarriage of justice because being God’s personal earthly representative (if the monarch did not claim to be a deity him/her self) the king, by definition, could do no wrong since, by definition, God could do no wrong. Thus the policy of sovereign immunity came about which burdens the people to this day. Judges have this kind of immunity from their incompetence/corruption.

      Literal swords are not wielded in modern courtrooms, but the principle of winning at all cost remains despite the seldom realized theory that the proceedings are supposed to be a search for the truth. Judges regularly prevent juries from hearing the entire unvarnished truth. And the superstition remains that a jury/judge can distinguish between who is telling the truth in trial, and who is not. If that proposition were true, every con artist and politician (and not a few judges) would be out of business.

      In such an adversarial arena (not all nations sponsor such adversarial forums), truth and justice are inherently inconsistent with the proceedings. Our prisons, and even death row, is legion with condemned citizens who are both factually and legally innocent. According to Washington’s Administrator to the Courts (which keeps such statistics) the percentage of acquittals (both by bench/jury trial) across the State for criminal cases that actually go to trial is a fraction of 1%. Moreover, inmates are denied public record requests that could help them reopen their case and reverse their conviction.

      One might conclude from such statistics that either detectives and prosecutors are geniuses at ferreting out the guilty from the innocent…or that Washignton juries are too eager to believe lying cops and unscrupulous prosecutors. They agree with Ed Meese, not our founding fathers. They substitute the inapplicable preponderance of evidence standard (50%) for the required beyond reasonable doubt.

      “I have seen the enemy…and it is US!” -Pogo-

      Police officers who lie in their sworn written reports and testimony are not unusual. By law, they are permitted to lie to suspects (but not the inverse!) and even encouraged to do so, paving the road to Hell with their ‘good’ intentions. Most judges have never met a cop they didn’t like and will reject the notion one could be lying on the stand out of hand.

      The government is permitted by law to offer bribed testimony to jurors. Defendants are not. The presumption of innocence has, in fact if not in law, become a joke in the public’s mind.

      “You don’t have many criminal suspects who are innocent of a crime and suspects should not have the right to have a lawyer present when police question them.” -Ed Meese, Reagan’s AG- (Oct, 1985)
      None of Mr. Meese’s attempts at scholarship achieve the eloquence of his unguarded response when an interviewer asked, Why shouldn’t people have the protections of the Miranda warnings? ”Suspects who are innocent of crime should. But the thing is, you don’t have many suspects who are innocent of crime. That’s contradictory. If a person is innocent of a crime, then he is not a suspect.”

      In other words, guilty until proven guilty. (And “Catsup is a vegetable.”)

  12. Bruce Finlay says:

    Winning at all costs is fairly close to the defense attorney’s job, within ethical guidelines, but the prosecutor’s duty is justice; not winning. The problem is that prosecutors are human beings with human emotions, human motivations and human failings, and since the prosecutor’s office pays OK but not as well as a good lawyer can make in private practice, you don’t tend to get the best and the brightest in prosecutor’s offices. Unfortunate but true. Petty tyranny and self-righteousness is what you usually get. It’s as if, once you gain employ with the prosecutor, all your sins are erased and you cannot remember ever committing any bad acts at all, ever, your soul is shining and clean and so self-righteous while you grossly and gleefully overcharge to force innocent persons to plead guilty – the prosecutor will say they are guilty because they believe they always know, they are never wrong, despite that every study ever done on whether humans can tell who is telling the truth has proved that no one can do it better than random chance, not even judges, detectives or prosecutors. But these are absolutely positive in their ability to detect truth and falsity nonetheless, and they generally maintain that belief in their own infallibility even after DNA evidence proves them wrong beyond a shadow of a doubt, as The Innocence Project has proved through sheer number alone. They have to because they know for a fact that innocent people are convicted, imprisoned for life in inhuman conditions in this state and country and it is not rare enough to ignore. They have to be just to sleep at night. Prosecutorial decisions have life and death consequences. People in this county have killed themselves because they were charged, perhaps some were guilty, no one will ever know and no prosecutor will lose a minute of sleep over it. In my opinion, the prosecutor has too much power for a single human being such that is actually an impossible and unfair burden. That none of them seem to realize this is frightening.

    • admin says:

      Marlo Brown (aka: Denise Smith) e-mailed:
      “So this is my story:

      A few years ago I had Eric Valley look at a case for me in a business deal, it started out as helping me with a letter of intent with Vander Wal’s Garage. The case was to be handled by him and a legal contract was to be written.

      After 8 months and after paying the above business $170,000.00 I was advised to just walk away. He “didn’t want to deal with it anymore” I signed away an agreement that was not fair.

      In the 8 months, there was a lot of back and forth, Mr. Valley was not focused, and spent most of his time writing emails to basically make fun of, and question the lack of education the other attorney had. Unproductive at best.

      I asked many times to get this case out of Mason County due to the time the Vander Wal’s had been here, and that I did not feel that I was going to get a fair hearing, that fell on deaf ears.

      If he showed up for Court on time, he lacked focus, wasted the Courts time, and everyone else’s, nothing that he brought to the table was intelligent or coherent, he rambled and nothing got handled.

      This case was my whole life, and he KNEW that, we had a GOOD case and he knew it. After all was said and done, he missed Court hearings, not prepared, and frustrated the Judge at best. In the end, I lost almost everything because of his lack of focus. I tried hiring him for a few other issues, in trade for some work at my shop, I fixed his vehicle on numerous occasions and when it was not done in time or what he thought should be, I received text message, telling me that I had a sorry case for a shop, was clueless, and I shouldn’t be running a business.

      I have been humiliated in Court, scolding me in front of everyone, being accused of not doing what he asked, and I have emails to prove otherwise.

      Though I am not a George Steele fan either–the man lacks empathy, personality, but he is honest. Eric on the bench is a recipe for long, unproductive Court hearings, and loss to a lot of people in Mason County. He DOES know the law, but cannot stay focused long enough to uphold it.

      I lost a lot because I trusted this Man, he was not serious about defending me, I spent many days in his office listening to his songs he found, or his latest fling, nothing that was productive for sure, and it showed.

      I was pushed into signing a agreement, because he no longer knew how to deal with it, or wanted to. I still have issues with this case, and he has wiped his hands of it.

      I lost a lot of money, my reputation, and still am fighting battles to clean up the mess he has made. He is incompetent, a manipulator, and he is a Narcissist, and a constant “VICTIM”! He is not the VICTIM!

      It took me a long time to come forward, due to the potential backlash and retaliation of my statements, but he need not be a Judge…or an Attorney.

      I have been lied to, pushed aside, and at no time did he care. He took from my Family, gave me legal advise that was so much garbage, and when called on it, denied giving it to me.

      This has been a nightmare, and the abuse that I will get will be horrible, but everyone needs to know my story.

      If I could file a suit against him I would!!”

      On ‎Monday‎, ‎November‎ ‎5‎, ‎2018‎ ‎02‎:‎16‎:‎03‎ ‎AM
      Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

      • admin says:

        Marlo may well have copies of the e-mails between her and Eric Valley, but if so, this reporter hasn’t seen them to date despite having been reassured he would. i.e. This complaint has not been confirmed/corroborated. Perhaps a search of court records will shed some light on the matter? Stay tuned…more to come.

        • Marlo Brown says:

          Let me get my emails together, and there are definitely court records to this circus!

        • Toni foley says:

          I personally would prefer a judge who had experience. with reality. As has known both sides i believe that person could have more understanding and therefore hand down fairer sentences. I had to experience mason court and i ve seen some pretty corrupt goings on. This is ‘good ole boy ‘country. Kinda like arkansas you know? Eric s got my vote !

          • admin says:

            Eric has lost the election. Many people agree with your assessment, Toni.
            Steele could have easily been cast as the judge in the John Candy movie. Still, honesty and integrity are rock bottom core values a judge MUST bring to the bench…something Eric lacked. Now we’ll have a judge who has lobbied for a bigger jail he can fill up. Start casting about now for an honest competent attorney willing to run against Steele in the next election cycle. Tim Whitehead might be a good pick. He currently works as a Mason Co. deputy prosecutor, and more than meets the qualifications for a decent judge.

  13. Pingback: Eric Valley’s (esq.) past comes calling…COLLECT! | Soul Snatcher, Productions ™ Democracy Wall

  14. Denise Smith says:

    I have a story to tell… been a victim of Eric Valley’s issues!!

  15. admin says:

    Denise, if you have something factual to report, post it. I will review and publish it if it appears factual and of public interest. Election day is tomorrow.

    • admin says:

      I will post my complaints, they are valid, he almost cost me everything, my actual names is Marlo Brown, I own a business in this town, afraid of this loose cannon, I have a story for you that would make your skin crawl, verbal abuse by text message is minor as to what this jackass has done. [Redacted] asked me to contact you. There is so much to type, you would not even believe it. Call me if you would like!! I have emails etc… this guy is a crook, and a phony. My office number is 360-[redacted][Brown’s Garage]

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