Former deputy prosecuting attorney files lawsuit against Jefferson County

Seeks to prevent employment records from being released

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A former Jefferson County deputy prosecuting attorney has filed a lawsuit in Jefferson County Superior Court to prevent the county from releasing public records from her “termination file” written by other county attorneys — documents that she claims are false and libelous.

Julian St. Marie was a chief deputy prosecuting attorney and deputy prosecuting attorney for Jefferson County from June 2015 through May 2021.

In a lawsuit to keep the records from being made public, St. Marie said in court papers that the documents contain “numerous, unsubstantiated claims and libelous statements that would cause irreparable harm to Ms. St. Marie’s professional reputation in the county.”

“These type of offensive, unsubstantiated and untrue statements are not in the public interest,” she added.

St. Marie is currently an attorney in private practice.

She was hired as chief deputy prosecuting attorney in June 2015 under then-prosecuting attorney Michael Haas.

In her lawsuit, St. Marie said when James Kennedy was elected prosecutor in 2020 he “almost immediately” demoted her, despite her having tried 38 cases, many of them with felony charges, and getting numerous guilty verdicts.

St. Marie claimed she “expressed concerns about failing systems in the office relating to discovery and trial preparation,” according to court documents, and soon after, Kennedy terminated her employment
May 18, 2021.

She also claimed that Kennedy and Chief Deputy Chris Ashcraft had shared unflattering, secret memos about her in the roughly two weeks before she was let go.

“Instead of responding to Ms. St. Marie’s concerns, Mr. Ashcraft and Mr. Kennedy secretly communicated between themselves about Ms. St. Marie’s concerns,” St. Marie said in a complaint filed June 3 in Jefferson County Superior Court.

“Between April 29, 2021 and
May 18, 2021, Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Ashcraft authored a series of ‘memoranda,’ attacking Ms. St. Marie’s intelligence, abilities, and supposed personality type. These memoranda are filled with unsubstantiated claims and libelous statements concerning Ms. St. Marie,” the complaint continues.

Kennedy declined to comment on the lawsuit Monday.

St. Marie did not immediately respond to an email request for comment from The Leader Monday.

The records on St. Marie’s employment with the county are being sought by Denver Lee Shoop.

Shoop was convicted on eight counts of animal cruelty following his arrest for the mistreatment of eight bison that had been found on his property in Chimacum in April 2018.

At the time the bison were seized, the animals had a parasitic infection from untreated worms and inadequate food.

“Testimony at trial also indicated Shoop had intentionally deprived the bison of water for extended periods of time,” an appeals court said in its decision to uphold the convictions.

In the lawsuit, St. Marie noted that she was the deputy prosecuting attorney who obtained the guilty verdicts on the eight charges against Shoop.

She also said Shoop frequently told her sentiments to the effect of, “I would love to ruin you like you ruined me.”

St. Marie, also in the lawsuit, said Shoop had a loose organization of “animal rights” advocates who have “a practice of obtaining records under the Public Records Act and publishing those records online.”

St. Marie said in her lawsuit the memoranda between Kennedy and Ashcraft were highly offensive, invaded her privacy, have no public interest, and should not be publicly released.

The county has not yet responded to the lawsuit.

A status conference on the lawsuit had been scheduled for Friday, June 10 in Jefferson County Superior Court, but the hearing was set to be rescheduled after Judge Keith Harper recused himself.

A hearing will be set in the future when a visiting judge or court commissioner can hear the case.