A review of pending criminal cases investigated by a former Clark County sheriff’s detective shows that no further cases are compromised, according to the county prosector’s office.
But because he could be facing criminal charges himself, former detective Kevin Harper will no longer be called to testify for the prosecution at trials.
“Honestly, he’s just not a viable witness,” Clark County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Camara Banfield said.
Even so, Banfield said nearly all of the criminal court cases that he investigated are still moving forward.
Prosecutors have finished reviewing the cases Harper was involved in investigating and aside from dropped charges in an attempted murder case, all other unresolved criminal cases he investigated are viable, she said.
Harper, who was a major crimes detective with the sheriff’s office for 20 years before he resigned earlier this month, was placed on administrative leave in September when a Vancouver police sergeant was made aware of an affair Harper was having with a known heroin addict, according to an investigation by the Washington State Patrol.
In the investigative report, state patrol detectives reported they found evidence that Harper, 57, met with Tracy Wasserman during work hours, documented her preparing and using heroin, provided her with money to purchase heroin and failed to seize her cellphone during the execution of a search warrant.
The state patrol completed its investigation in early January and forwarded the report to the Washington State Attorney General’s Office for consideration of charges. No charging decision has yet been made.
The criminal investigation into Harper forced the prosecuting attorney’s office to review all active cases that Harper had a hand in investigating for potential problems.
The focus of the review, Banfield said, was to determine whether the cases had strong enough evidence to move forward without Harper’s testimony and his portions of the investigation.
“There may be a lot of attacks on his credibility and his ability to function at his job during that time period (the investigation covered),” she said. “The one good thing about the Kevin Harper situation for our office is that the behavior that’s described in the materials is over a relatively short period of time. … It will only affect the cases during that time period.”
Harper met Wasserman in November 2015, and they were still talking in September, when the investigation into their relationship began, according to the WSP report.
Harper was listed as a witness in 12 pending Superior Court cases, three cases awaiting a charging decision, four suspended cases and three cases on warrant status, according to the prosecuting attorney’s office.
Harper was the lead investigator in the case against Troy Meyers and Michael Conley, two men accused in the stabbing of an acquaintance in November 2015.
Due to the Harper investigation, prosecutors in December dismissed dozens of charges in the case without prejudice, meaning they could be filed again at a later date.
Banfield said that prosecutors have not yet readdressed the case and have no immediate plans to file any charges in the matter.
As for the rest of Harper’s cases, Banfield said that the review resulted in no other dropped or reduced charges.
She added that prosecutors are regularly presented with problems with witnesses. The only unusual part, she said, is that this time the witness is an investigator whose cases typically involve serious allegations.
“We feel comfortable moving forward on all of the cases that we currently have that (Harper) worked on,” she said.
Even though they won’t call Harper as a witness, Banfield said that prosecutors are sharing all of the investigative material into Harper’s alleged misconduct with defense attorneys for them to use how they see fit.
“It’s sad to see something like this,” she said. At the same time, she added, “We were happy there was a thorough investigation by the Washington State Patrol so we were able to make some really educated decisions.”
Emily Gillespie: 360-735-4522; twitter.com/col_cops; emily.gillespie@columbian.com
