[WA] Officer McDonough's ex is suing to get records

...A Buckley woman who accused her ex-boyfriend, a police officer, of domestic violence and obtained a restraining order against him has sued Pierce County for nondisclosure of records related to her case... [2003] A Pierce County sheriff's deputy saw several bruises on the woman's arms and legs and abrasions on her hands. She is still receiving treatment for internal injuries...

A NEWS TRIBUNE SUNSHINE WEEK INVESTIGATION
When it comes to open government, the system works, but …
Local governments generally do well on requests for public records, but there's still a wide range of compliance - and noncompliance
The News Tribune
SEAN ROBINSON
March 16th, 2008
...A Buckley woman who accused her ex-boyfriend, a police officer, of domestic violence and obtained a restraining order against him has sued Pierce County for nondisclosure of records related to her case... Buckley resident Alexis Alexandria has been battling Pierce County courts for two years over records related to domestic violence. In 2004, she obtained a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend, Kenneth McDonough, a Bonney Lake police officer. McDonough was subsequently charged with fourth-degree assault (domestic violence) in Pierce County District Court. He was acquitted, but the restraining order remained active. Following the verdict, Alexandria filed a records request seeking police reports and field notes. In 2006, Pierce County supplied some records, but withheld 259 pages, saying the documents were protected by attorney-client privilege. Alexandria filed suit in July 2007. In February, a King County judge accepted Alexandria's motion to review the records and determine whether Pierce County's decision to withhold was proper. No decision has been reached yet.... County attorneys argue that Alexandria could obtain the records from other sources, such as the Pierce County Sheriff's Department. They say they don't want to set a precedent that would allow examination of prosecutor's notes, or create the prospect of prosecutors becoming witnesses in civil cases. "If we can get people to go to the source, which can be Tacoma police or the sheriff's office, that takes a load off our office, which is a pretty stressed office as far as workload is concerned," said deputy prosecutor Doug Vanscoy, head of the county's civil division... [Full article here]
Older News:
Bonney Lake police officer charged
The News Tribune
Karen Hucks
October 8th, 2003
[Excerpts] Pierce County prosecutors say a Bonney Lake police officer shoved, pulled and grabbed his girlfriend, causing internal injuries to the woman - a cancer survivor who'd had several organs removed. Deputy prosecutor Cort O'Connor filed a misdemeanor, fourth-degree domestic violence assault charge Tuesday against 39-year-old Kenneth Michael McDonough... McDonough's girlfriend told sheriff's deputies they had fought about her drinking July 26 in a bar and then in their hotel room... The next day, they returned home to Buckley. When she tried to get a beer out of the refrigerator, McDonough told her she was not going to have anything to drink, and poured it out, charging documents state. McDonough then tried to remove her from the home by twisting her arms behind her back, the documents say. During the struggle, the woman fell and he fell on top of her, landing with his knees on her chest. The documents say he pulled her while she held onto a washing machine, grabbed her by the wrist and then, while she was holding a refrigerator door, shoved her so hard the handle broke off. A Pierce County sheriff's deputy saw several bruises on the woman's arms and legs and abrasions on her hands. She is still receiving treatment for internal injuries... When deputies contacted McDonough, he denied assaulting the woman. He said he was holding the refrigerator door closed and that she pulled the handle so hard it broke and she felt backward onto the floor. "The defendant said that (the woman) was just trying to set him up," documents state...

Ex-police officer acquitted of assault
KAREN HUCKS; The News Tribune
April 20th, 2004
[Excerpts] A Pierce County District Court jury Monday acquitted a former Bonney Lake police officer of assaulting his girlfriend last July. Kenneth Michael McDonough, 39, went on trial last week for fourth- degree domestic violence assault, in connection with an incident July 27, 2003, at his Buckley home. Pierce County prosecutors said McDonough shoved, pulled and grabbed his then-girlfriend, causing internal injuries to the woman, a cancer survivor who'd had several organs removed. McDonough's lawyer said the woman had injured herself as McDonough tried to keep her from getting a beer out of the refrigerator... "I felt convinced after having met Ken that this wasn't something he'd do - to anyone," said defense attorney Tom Ryan. If McDonough hadn't been a police officer charged with domestic violence, he would have never been tried, Ryan said. Since Tacoma Police Chief David Brame killed his wife and himself last year, the attorney said, it's become an "open season for selling cops down on this stuff." McDonough declined to talk to The News Tribune. In the courthouse hallway, he hugged friends and family, fielded phone calls and talked about getting his job back. McDonough had been a police officer in Bonney Lake for eight years. The Bonney Lake mayor and police chief fired him in October, saying he'd used his department computer to view pornography; he'd allegedly assaulted his girlfriend; he'd had unauthorized passengers in his police vehicle; and he'd had department materials [???] used as "narcotics teaching aids" in his home. Deputy prosecutor Jeff McCarty said the case was difficult, because jurors had to choose whether they believed McDonough's version or the woman's. Alexis Alexandria, McDonough's ex-girlfriend, said she had to have a surgery and is in a wheelchair because of the incident, and prosecutors hadn't worked hard enough to bring evidence of her recent medical problems into the trial. "I think the jury's decision is such an injustice to me and a mockery of the system," said Alexandria, who chose to have her name in the paper. "If the jury heard the medical stuff, we would not be having a not-guilty verdict"...