EX-SHERIFF SEEKS $10 MILLION

A Snohomish County Superior Court jury will receive a short course on pain
and its treatment, as well as an in-depth review of the injuries and career
of former sheriff Patrick Murphy.

"This case is about pain" and the "protection Patrick Murphy deserved but
did not receive from public officials," said his lawyer, Mark Northcraft,
at Tuesday's outset of a trial against the state Board of Pharmacy.

Murphy is suing the state for up to $10 million in damages, claiming the
board is guilty of civil conspiracy by agreeing to seize his confidential
prescription health care information in 1995, and then passing it on to
county officials.

But not so fast, said Paul Triesch, assistant attorney general defending
the board.

This case is more about responsibility and responding to concerns aired by
pharmacists who became suspicious of Murphy's prescription drug requests.

An investigation by the board discovered that Murphy was receiving narcotic
medication prescribed by 10 health providers, and he was purchasing them in
three cities and at eight pharmacies, Triesch told the jury.

The allegations surfaced just before his election, which he ended up losing.

The trial in Judge Ronald Castleberry's courtroom is expected to last two
or three weeks. The suit, and another in U.S. District Court, were filed
after Murphy was charged in 1995 with prescription drug fraud during his
election campaign. At the time, the former Snohomish police chief was the
appointed sheriff seeking election to the post. The suits alleged civil
rights violations and a conspiracy to boot him out of office.

The criminal charges were eventually dismissed after another judge ruled
that confidential medical records from several doctors and pharmacists had
been improperly obtained.

Murphy claims a variety of damages, including loss of reputation and
income, and increased stress. He also lost the election in a swirl of
controversy over the prescription drug charges.

Murphy's lawyer, Northcraft, walked the jurors through a series of events,
beginning with Murphy's quick rise to law enforcement heights in Oregon,
and at the age of 30 becoming the youngest person in Washington state to
become police chief in a city the size of Snohomish.

He said Murphy had a series of very painful injuries beginning in 1988 when
he was struck in the jaw by an irate bus rider as the then Snohomish chief
went to the aid of the female driver.

That poke in the jaw resulted in temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMJ,
Northcraft said.

"At times he felt like he should be dead. He wished he were," Northcraft
said of the pain from the TMJ.

Later, he suffered from a variety of other injuries after a small
excavating machine turned over, he slipped on ice, tumbled off a bike,
stepped out of a helicopter and fell 22 feet from a broken ladder.

Doctors were coordinating his treatment for chronic pain and dealing with
all the injuries, issuing overlapping prescriptions, Northcraft said.

The medications allowed him to function, and he did so quite well under the
circumstances, Northcraft said.

"He was functioning so well he was appointed sheriff of Snohomish County,"
Northcraft said.

But that may not be true, assistant attorney general Triesch told jurors.

After all, the series of accidents happened after Murphy started receiving
pain medication for the jaw injury, he said

He said the information developed by Pharmacy Board investigators was
"profoundly troubling to them," Triesch said.

"They saw information indicating in their professional judgment that
Patrick Murphy himself was a risk" for physical damage from the medications
and from impaired judgment.

There also was a risk to the public because he drove a county car and
carried a pistol, Triesch said.

The board went to Snohomish County Executive Bob Drewel, then County
Council chairwoman Karen Miller and Jim Townsend, chief criminal deputy
prosecutor, and Murphy eventually was charged after not cooperating,
Triesch said.

"What they did, the evidence will show, is exactly what they should have
done," Triesch said of the board. "The evidence will show they got it right."

SIDEBAR

What Has Happened

1982: Murphy becomes Snohomish police chief.

March 8, 1995: Murphy is named sheriff by the Snohomish County Council.

June 15, 1995: The state pharmacy board sends the results of a probe of
Murphy's painkiller use to county prosecutors.

Aug. 16, 1995: Jim Townsend, chief criminal deputy prosecutor, contends the
investigation of Murphy is not political, even though Townsend once
supported a primary election opponent of Murphy.

Oct. 31, 1995: Murphy is charged with four counts of allegedly obtaining
prescription drugs by fraud over 2Z\x years.

Nov. 7, 1995: Murphy loses sheriff's election to Rick Bart.

July 3, 1996: A judge tosses out critical evidence against Murphy and the
charges are subsequently dismissed.