The arraignment of a former Washington State Patrol lieutenant on rape charges was postponed Wednesday after he told his attorney he didn’t want to enter a not guilty plea.
Kenneth S. Garrison, 50, of Vancouver faces charges in Clark County Superior Court of two counts of second-degree rape and three counts of first-degree incest related to the rape of a relative. He is being held in Clark County Jail on $1 million bail.
Judge Robert Lewis determined during a court hearing Wednesday that Garrison qualifies for a court-appointed attorney and appointed Vancouver attorney Shon Bogar to defend Garrison. There had been some doubt at his first court appearance Jan. 31 about whether he qualified.
After consulting with Garrison, Bogar told Lewis that Garrison didn’t want to enter a not guilty plea. Bogar said that he wanted more time to discuss the “serious” decision with his client before his arraignment hearing. Lewis rescheduled Garrison’s arraignment hearing for Thursday.
Meanwhile, Cowlitz County Prosecuting Attorney Sue Baur said she is considering filing a child rape charge against Garrison related to a 2001 incident involving a different alleged victim, who also was Garrison’s relative. Garrison was charged with the crime, but the charge was later dismissed.
“We are re-looking at that and considering re-filing the charges from the 2001 case, which was dismissed,” Baur said.
In the 2001 case, a girl related to Garrison accused him of touching her private parts and disclosed the abuse to her mother, who alerted police, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Cowlitz County Superior Court. The girl said she knew it was Garrison because she peeked and “felt his hairy arms,” according to the affidavit. She also said Garrison was wearing striped shorts and a basketball T-shirt when he abused her, the affidavit says.
The 2001 allegation against Garrison led to an internal investigation that ended in Garrison’s termination, State Patrol spokesman Bob Calkins said. Garrison was fired in 2003, and the state decertified him as a peace officer, Calkins said.
Garrison’s supervisor at the time reviewed the 2001 allegation and determined that there was enough proof that the sex abuse happened, Calkins said.
However, when Garrison appealed his termination, an arbitrator ruled in his favor, awarded him some back pay, and ordered him back to work. He returned to duty with the State Patrol in 2008 and remained with the agency until his resignation in December, Calkins said.
Garrison retired Jan. 27 from his position as a lieutenant colonel in the Washington Army National Guard.
Clark County sheriff’s deputies arrested Garrison Jan. 29 at the Rodeway Inn and Suites, 2323 N.E. 181st Ave. in Gresham, Ore. He spent the night in the Multnomah County Jail and then was extradited to the Clark County Jail.
The State Patrol hired Garrison in 1989, Calkins said. Garrison was most recently the lieutenant responsible for supervising troopers who patrol the Southwest Washington district, which is headquartered in Vancouver.
