Judge Slaps Sanctions on Seattle for Deleting Thousands of Texts Between Top Officials

A federal judge has levied crippling sanctions against the city of Seattle for deleting thousands of text messages between high-ranking officials, including the former mayor and police chief, during the three-week Capitol Hill Organized Protest -- a ruling that will undermine the city's defense against a lawsuit filed by business owners and residents affected by the high-profile protests. From a report: In a pair of lengthy orders Jan. 13, U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly sent the so-called Hunters Capital lawsuit to trial on two of five claims, dismissing three others. He also ordered the city to pay the attorneys fees for those who showed city leaders destroyed significant evidence about their decision-making during CHOP, including their move to abandon the Police Department's East Precinct. The judge found significant evidence that the destruction of CHOP evidence was intentional and that officials tried for months to hide the text deletions from opposing attorneys. "The Court finds substantial circumstantial evidence that the city acted with the requisite intent necessary to impose a severe sanction and that the city's conduct exceeds gross negligence," he wrote. For that reason, Zilly said that when the case goes to trial he'll instruct the jury that it may presume the text messages were detrimental to the city's legal position and that there's significant circumstantial evidence they were deleted intentionally.

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