‘Damaged and disturbed.’ WA commission told to censure Tri-Cities judge who just quit

A former Tri-Cities judge should never have been on the bench because of his alleged abusive relationship with his ex-wife and the relentless hounding of a former girlfriend, argued an attorney for Washington’s judicial conduct commission this week.

Sam Swanberg’s behavior was the focus of a day and a half of testimony at the Benton County Justice Center in Kennewick.

“This is a matter of a very sad, damaged and disturbed individual, who never had any business of being on the bench in the first place — an individual who hid this dark truth about his personal conduct throughout the entirety of his time both in seeking a judicial position and serving as a judge for six years,” Attorney Terry Scanlan told eight members of the Washington State Commission on Judicial Conduct.

Scanlan presented the commission’s case against Swanberg, who resigned voluntarily on Friday as one of seven elected Superior Court judges in Benton and Franklin counties.

He was previously acquitted in 2022 of domestic violence assault of his ex-wife and was never charged with a crime involving his former girlfriend.

Still, despite stepping down as a judge, Swanberg is accused of violating three of the codes of judicial behavior in Washington state.

Scanlan, a former King County deputy prosecutor, explained that judges are expected to behave in a way that is beyond reproach in every aspect of their life.

While Scanlan asked the eight members of the commission to hand down the highest punishment possible — censure and removal from the bench — it’s not clear what impact it will have on Swanberg now that he’s no longer a judge.

He has said he plans to continue working as an attorney in the Tri-Cities.

Swanberg had hoped the judicial commission hearing would be canceled once he resigned, but Commission Executive Director Reiko Callner of Olympia previously told the Tri-City Herald that it’s important to reach a conclusion in these cases because it can serve as a future precedent for how judges should behave.

Commission members, who include judges, attorneys and members of the public, are expected to make a decision in the case within three months.

Their determination will be presented to the entire state commission to be adopted during an open public meeting. The next meetings are scheduled in June, September and November.

Swanberg and his attorney did not attend the hearing on Monday and Tuesday, except to testify for two hours Monday.

Again, Swanberg denied that he physically lashed out at his ex-wife, state Rep. Stephanie Barnard.

His attorney, Scott Johnson, previously called the process politically motivated, and said the commission was looking to unmake the decision of a Franklin County jury that acquitted Swanberg of two counts of domestic violence assault.

But this week’s hearing covered a broader range of allegations, as Scanlan worked to depict Swanberg as a man with continuing problems with women.

He’s accused of breaking the law, acting in a way that hurt the public’s trust in judges and using his office to advance his personal interests, according to the statement of charges filed by the commission late last year.

Alleged domestic violence

Swanberg and Barnard were married in 1987. She was 18 and pregnant and he was attending college.

Since having a child outside of marriage was not acceptable in her faith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he agreed to get married.

She testified that their marriage was fine in the beginning but then he began calling her names and pushing her.

“I didn’t want to give up on the marriage because I was married and I was wanting to make a go of it and I had nowhere else to go,” she testified. “I did think about leaving earlier.”

Barnard testified he lashed out in a particularly violent outburst about two years into their marriage, throwing her against an exercise bicycle where she hit her back against a petal.

Swanberg declined to testify about the incident, exercising his right to remain silent and not incriminate himself.

Barnard said the attack was enough motivation for her to leave and move back in with her parents in Western Washington. She stayed there for more than a year while Swanberg finished his second year of law school.

While she considered divorce and spoke with an attorney, he became angry and made accusations. But then he had his mother call Barnard.

He traveled to the Seattle area to try and reconcile with her, showing her a journal where he professed his feelings and brought her flowers.

Margaret Hobart, an expert in helping domestic violence survivors, testified this week that this pattern of overt professions of love followed by building up of tension and then violence is common among abusers.

Eventually, Barnard and Swanberg reconciled and moved to the Tri-Cities after he finished his studies and earned his law degree.

But their relationship followed a familiar rhythm in which their lives were peaceful and then violence would erupt. Barnard said he would lash out physically about three to four times a year.

He would push her down and pin her to the floor while yelling at her, she testified. And she admitted she occasionally slapped him during arguments.

Two of the couple’s six children also testified this week and said that their dad would push her down and that she would slap him.

Swanberg testified that he only used force to defend himself and remove himself from her attacks.

The couple decided to divorce in 2020, but Swanberg stayed in the house living in the basement during the process of their divorce.

That led to two confrontations on Feb. 7 and 8, 2021, that eventually led to Swanberg being charged with two counts of fourth-degree assault. A Franklin County jury acquitted him, finding he was defending himself.

That trial focused on the last days of their 33-year marriage, and little other information was included.

Barnard accused him pushing her down and dragging her by her ankles, causing bruising.

Swanberg believes she made up the domestic violence to make it seem like the divorce was justified, he testified. And he claimed she used a December 2021 application for an anti-harassment order as an opportunity to make the accusations.

She said she filed the declaration to support his ex-girlfriend when she claimed Swanberg wouldn’t leave her alone.

The couple’s divorce was finalized in April 2021 but nearly five months later he sent a letter to Barnard admitting he behaved poorly in their relationship.

Scanlan read from the letter during Swanberg’s testimony.

“I know this is far too little and late but I am truly sorry for everything, including all of my abhorrent, and untrue hurtful words and actions,” Swanberg wrote. “You did nothing to deserve them and I am utterly ashamed.”

In the letter, Swanberg attempted to restart his relationship with Barnard and said the she was the “love of my life” and the “greatest thing to ever happen to me.”

Harassment and stalking

At the time he wrote the letter, he was in a relationship with a Franklin County Clerk’s Office employee.

The woman also testified during this week’s hearing and described her relationship with Swanberg as starting out good but becoming inconsistent.

He would disappear for long periods of time, only to return and shower her with gifts and attention, she said.

In the fall of 2021, the single mother went with Swanberg to a Washington State University football game and more people learned that they were dating.

While there was nothing in county rules preventing the relationship, it resulted in her getting disciplined for creating a potential conflict of interest by having a relationship with a judge.

After being placed on administrative leave, she decided to look for a new job. She found work at the Benton County Office of Public Defense and she ended her relationship with Swanberg.

But based on a series of text messages, letters, phone calls and at least one visit to her home, Swanberg didn’t take the breakup well.

He admitted on the stand that he “did not have a peaceful mind at that time.”

The text messages and phone calls started on Dec. 4, 2021. He also showed up at her apartment and spent two minutes knocking on the door, she testified.

She repeatedly told him that the relationship was over, but he continued to try and reach out including writing a lengthy proposal detailing how they would move in together and “spend the rest of our lives together because we are in love and are happier with each other than without.”

As part of the proposal, he said he would keep their relationship secret.

He also tried to enlist her friends and his family to reach out to her over the next three weeks. He then tried stopping her in the Benton County Justice Center parking lot on Dec. 21, 2021.

She tried to put him off but instead of waiting, he used a Christmas card and a tree as a excuse for coming into her office the same day.

She tried to leave the office without him seeing her, but she couldn’t avoid him, she said.

Later that day, he called then Prosecutor Andy Miller to discuss his relationship with the women. He testified that it was an attempt to come clean about the relationship.

Scanlan argued this weekit was a way to retaliate against the employee and try to get her into trouble.

The woman asked for and received an anti-harassment order to keep Swanberg from contacting her at work or at home. That has since lapsed.

The panel from the judicial conduct commission also heard testimony this week from one of the woman’s friends, who said Swanberg offered to pay her $1,000 to get her to help him repair their relationship.

Other testimony came from law enforcement investigators, a domestic violence expert and staff from the Office of Public Defense in Benton County.