Ruling stands in Spencer case

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a request to reconsider a May 18 ruling in which a three-judge panel reinstated a $9 million jury award to Clyde Ray Spencer, the former Vancouver police officer who spent nearly 20 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of sexual abuse.

Spencer was convicted in 1985 of sexually abusing his two children and a stepson, and was sentenced to two life terms plus 14 years. When Spencer was arrested, he was a motorcycle officer with the Vancouver Police Department. His sentence was commuted in 2004, and the convictions were later thrown out and the charges dismissed.

A jury in February 2014 awarded Spencer the multimillion-dollar verdict, following a 14-day civil trial in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. In reaching its decision, the jury determined that former Clark County sheriff’s Detective Sharon Krause violated Spencer’s constitutional rights to due process by fabricating police reports. It also found that Clark County sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Davidson, Krause’s supervisor, had an affair with Spencer’s wife and was liable in his supervisory capacity.

Clark County was dismissed as a defendant in the civil case but paid for Krause and Davidson’s legal counsel.

However, in August 2014, Judge Benjamin H. Settle of the U.S. District Court threw out the verdict. He ruled there was insufficient evidence at trial to show that Krause and Davidson violated Spencer’s constitutional rights. Settle found that Spencer didn’t introduce evidence showing Krause knew or should have known he was innocent.

But on appeal, the federal court ruled that because Spencer provided direct evidence of fabrication by Krause, he didn’t have to prove she knew or should have known he was innocent.

Less than a month after the panel released its opinion, Krause and Davidson’s attorneys filed a petition requesting that all of the judges review the decision. The petition contends that the panel’s opinion conflicts with precedents set by the Supreme Court and 9th Circuit by “incorrectly holding (Spencer) was not required to prove knowledge of innocence.” The petition also claimed that there was insufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to conclude Krause and Davidson knew or should have known Spencer was innocent.

In its June 26 order, the 9th Circuit wrote that the panel voted to deny the petition, with no additional explanation.

Months before Settle vacated the jury award, the Clark County Commissioners unanimously voted to not pay the $9 million. Then-Commissioners Tom Mielke, David Madore and Steve Stuart voted to no longer protect Krause and Davidson by paying the award. County prosecutors argued that since Krause was found to have fabricated evidence, she was outside the scope of her duties as a county employee.

Phone calls to the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the attorneys representing Krause and Davidson were not returned Friday.

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Correction appended: The article originally misstated that Clark County filed the petition for the 9th Circuit to review the panel’s decision.