THE CASE AGAINST MURPHY

Prosecutor Who Charged Former Sheriff Details Evidence

First, there was the information from one of Patrick Murphy's doctors that
he was avoiding other treatments to curb his pain and doctor-shopping for
drugs.

Then the former Snohomish County sheriff allegedly lied about hurting
himself by falling out of a helicopter, an injury that paved the way for
him to get more drugs.

Those weren't the only two bits of evidence special prosecutor Becky Roe
gathered for her prescription fraud case against Murphy. But those two
instances were the focus of Roe's testimony Wednesday during the third week
of Murphy's Superior Court civil trial.

Murphy is suing the State Board of Pharmacy for allegedly conspiring to
disclose his confidential prescription information to Snohomish County
Executive Bob Drewel and others. Murphy is seeking up to $10 million in
damages.

Roe, a former King County prosecutor now in private practice, was hired to
handle the Murphy case in 1995. She learned from Murphy's doctors that the
ex-sheriff was repeatedly taking large quantities of prescription
painkillers for serious injuries he received on and off the job.

"The motives were he was desperate for relief, and he would get it any way
he could," Roe testified Wednesday. "And the way he chose to do it was
fraud and deception."

And at least one of those injuries apparently had not occurred, Roe said.

Murphy had claimed he was injured after falling from a helicopter in April
1995. But Roe received statements from two witnesses who told prosecutors
that they had watched Murphy leave the helicopter and that he never fell.
Court records show that two days after the alleged fall, Murphy received
prescription drugs, Roe said.

Roe filed criminal charges in October 1995 against Murphy for fraudulently
seeking prescriptions for controlled drugs. Those charges were filed about
a week before the November election in which Murphy, a Democrat, lost his
bid for sheriff to Republican Rick Bart.

The charges against Murphy were later dropped when a Jefferson County judge
ruled that the evidence against him had been improperly obtained without a
search warrant.

After the election loss, Murphy claimed that he was the victim of a
politically motivated investigation by the prosecutor's office. Roe said
Wednesday that the election wasn't a factor in her decision about when to
file the charges, but she admitted the timing of the election had an effect
on her.

"I knew we were damned either way," Roe said. "And I tried to block out the
election as much as I could, but I was mindful of the fact there was one."

Now that Murphy is out of work, he is being seen by a psychiatrist for
depression and anxiety, and it could take three to five years before he can
begin looking for other employment, rehabilitation counselor Kathryn Reid
testified Wednesday.

Besides, Reid said, it will take years to retrain Murphy, whose doctor
advised him he can no longer work in law enforcement and will need to go
back to school. Murphy, who went to Reid on the advice of his attorney,
already has a master's degree in public administration.

"He's a long ways from any specific job search activities," Reid said.

The state's investigation of Murphy began in May 1995 after allegations
that he was illegally obtaining large amounts of prescription painkillers
for serious injuries, including a chronic jaw disorder suffered in 1988.

The pharmacy board acted on the complaint of pharmacists who questioned the
number of prescriptions written out to Murphy. The board surveyed area
pharmacies and found that Murphy had more than 260 prescriptions filled in
17 months. Investigators were concerned about the amount of medication as
well as the type.

Murphy was receiving muscle relaxants and narcotic painkillers such as
Vicodin ES and Percocet, sometimes as many as 12 pills a day.