Special prosecutor calls behavior of Franklin officials ‘irregular.’ But was it a crime?

Two of three Franklin County officials being investigated for misconduct, witness tampering and making false or misleading statements will not be charged with crimes.

Franklin County Commissioner Rocky Mullen and Franklin County Auditor Matt Beaton both faced felony charges after being accused of committing crimes in connection with a complicated conflict and alleged cover-up centered on a $12,500 payment to the former HAPO Center management company.

The case was reviewed by Elise Deschenes, chief deputy for the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office, who sent a notice dated Aug. 6 declining to prosecute the cases. The Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office had asked her to handle the case to avoid a conflict of interest, since it is the county’s lawyer.

Deschenes wrote that both Mullen and Beaton engaged in “irregular” behavior but that there was “insufficient evidence to prove criminal behavior beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The notices concerning Mullen and Beaton were released Sept. 6 in response to a Washington state Public Records Act request by the Tri-City Herald. It is not clear if a final decision has been made concerning the third person implicated in the dispute, Commissioner Clint Didier.

Deschenes’ notices — one for Mullen and one for Beaton — did not mention Didier.

Scott Johnson, Beaton’s criminal defense attorney, released a statement to the public on Friday calling the investigation “wrongheaded and politically motivated.”