Judge: Detective made false statements to obtain warrant

By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — Newly unsealed federal court orders show that a veteran King County sheriff’s detective made several false statements in a search warrant application — resulting in a man’s false arrest on drug charges. Detective Kathleen Decker was looking for a murder weapon when she obtained a search warrant for the car and apartment of Gizachew Wondie in 2018. Investigators didn’t find the gun, but they found drugs, and Wondie was charged in federal court. According to court orders unsealed Friday, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones called Decker’s misrepresentations “egregious,” including a false claim that Wondie’s gun had been “conclusively” linked to a homicide. Wondie is now suing the county for violations of his constitutional rights.