Judge denies state’s request for a harsher sentence for Gallina
Michael Price doesn’t budge on the 15-month prison sentence he gave to former judge
ASOTIN — A request from Washington state attorneys for a harsher prison sentence for former Superior Court Judge Scott D. Gallina has been denied.
According to the latest court documents, Spokane County Judge Michael Price reviewed the attorney general’s motion and a response from the defense team before rendering his decision.
Gallina’s 15-month prison sentence will stand, Price said in an order recently filed in Asotin County Superior Court.
Gallina, a 58-year-old Clarkston resident, served as the Superior Court judge in Asotin, Columbia and Garfield counties for five years before being arrested for sexual misconduct in 2019. He pleaded guilty to a felony and a gross misdemeanor, both assaults with sexual motivation, for crimes that occurred against two female co-workers at the Asotin County Courthouse.
The plea agreement reached by the defense and state, and approval of both victims, called for a sentencing range of 13 to 27 months behind bars, with the state advocating for the high end.
The attorney general’s office argued the court made a legal error in July, when Gallina appeared before Price in Asotin County for sentencing. At the time, Price said he was confident a 27-month was warranted in this case, but concluded the sentences for each conviction should run concurrently, rather than consecutively.
After delving into the latest round of legal documents, Price declined to reconsider his decision.
Gallina is a Pullman native who had a long career as a defense attorney at Clark and Feeney in Lewiston before being appointed to the bench by Gov. Jay Inslee in 2014.
During an investigation by the Washington State Patrol, the former judge was accused of sexual harassment and unwanted touching by multiple women who worked with him, but the criminal charges were based on contact with two victims.
Gallina is now in custody of a state corrections facility and must register as a sex offender and complete three years of community custody when he’s released from prison.
He was represented by Spokane attorneys Carl Oreskovich and Andrew Wagley of the Etter McMahon Lamberson firm. Seattle attorneys Melanie Tratnik and Sean Waite handled the case on behalf of the state.
Sandaine can be reached at kerris@lmtribune.com.
