Law

KUOW: Tulalip woman and son upset with prosecution in tribal court

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

"In 2008, a Tulalip man named Michael Bradley was arrested. He was charged in federal court with raping his 7–year–old great–niece multiple times.

Jay Stansell was the federal public defender appointed to represent Michael.

Michael faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years if convicted. There was no DNA evidence. The crux of the case was the testimony of the 7–year–old girl. Stansell says he believes the girl was questioned so many times, she came to believe that the rapes occurred when they didn't.

Stansell: "And to this day I think she didn't make it up. I think she believes the story that she told. I don't think it's true."

Stansell says luckily the federal public defender's office had the funding to hire experts and thoroughly investigate the claims. They hired forensic doctors and psychologists.

Stansell: "Our office poured hundreds and hundreds of hours into the case."

He says up to five people in his office worked the case full time for six months.

Stansell: "And eventually the government decided to dismiss the case."

So Michael was free after six months in federal detention. During that time he'd been terrified for his safety if other inmates learned about the charges he faced.

But tribal members were outraged that federal authorities dropped the case. Tribal prosecutors decided to charge Michael in tribal court instead."

Get the Story:
Tribal Courts Expand: A Tribal Elder Says She Was Falsely Accused (KUOW 2/1)