A stipulation, agreement, and order of admonishment was handed to West Seattle resident and King County Superior Court Judge Michael Heavey Friday, Sept. 24. In a Code of Judicial Conduct statement just released, an agreement was reached by Judge Heavey and the Commission of Judicial Conduct State of Washington that he violated Canons 1, 2(A), and 2(B). In general, that means Judge Heavey lent the prestige of his judicial office to advance his own private interests, and possibly those of others.

Judge Heavey agrees to an "admonishment," which means he agrees he will not repeat such misconduct in the future. Admonishment is the "least severe action available to the Commission" according to the statement.

Judge Heavey was charged June 8 by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, or CJC, for speaking out in support of Amanda Knox, the West Seattle UW student convicted for the murder of her college roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia Italy. She is now serving a 26-year jail sentence.

Judge Heavey was charged for having used court time, materials and employees to draw up those letters. He wrote three letters to the prosecutors and a judge in that case in Perugia on County letterhead in 2008 while Knox was in prison awaiting trial. He told the West Seattle Herald in a June 8 interview he was upfront with the CJC.

In that interview Judge Heavey told the West Seattle Herald, "I said in the letters that Amanda was not going to get a fair trial, that the people of Italy already had their hearts hardened which would deny her a fair trial, and that no evidence can soften their hearts."

You can read that article and view the pdf of the lawsuit here:

http://www.westseattleherald.com/2010/06/08/news/update-judge-michael-h…

Here is the admonishment order: http://www.cjc.state.wa.us/Case%20Material/2010/5975%20Heavey%20Final%2…