RECORDS SHOW DRUGS ON TREASURER'S SHIRT

Dantini Denies Cocaine Use, Won't Face Criminal Charges

Traces of cocaine were found in the pocket of pajamas that Snohomish
County Treasurer Bob Dantini was wearing during a May altercation with
his former fiancee, according to police documents obtained Monday by
The Herald.

Dantini was stunned by the news, and denied ever using cocaine.

"Never," he said. "Not once."

The particles of cocaine were found in tests conducted by the
Washington State Patrol crime lab after Dantini, 48, was arrested May
28 following an alleged drug-related fracas with his ex-girlfriend,
then 27, the documents show.

The woman told investigators from the Snohomish County Sheriff's
Office that Dantini had a drug problem, and that the pair fought that
night after she allegedly caught him using cocaine in the bathroom of
his home near Snohomish, records show.

The woman claimed she ripped Dantini's plaid flannel pajama top trying
to get at a vial of cocaine he allegedly stuffed in a pocket,
according to police reports.

The woman said she hid the drugs in a shoe in her car, and tearfully
told deputies where to find it after they were summoned to the home
with a 911 call, according to court documents.

Dantini is not charged with a crime and won't be, the state Attorney
General's Office announced Thursday. There are problems with the case,
notably that the woman has ceased to cooperate with police and
prosecutors, assistant attorney general Jerry Ackerman said Monday.

Dantini said he was surprised by the lab report, and insisted the
cocaine "wasn't in the pocket when I had the shirt on."

He alleged the cocaine found on his clothing came from his former
fiancee. The woman had access to the pajama top during the hours he
was jailed in the aftermath of the fight, he said.

"If they (police) found cocaine, that's the only possibility," he
said.

The fight wasn't over drugs, but his desire to end his four-year
relationship with the woman, Dantini said, adding that she was the
aggressor and he had merely protected himself.

Dantini said the pajama top was torn in the altercation, and that he
asked deputies the morning after the fight to take it as evidence in
support of his story.

The treasurer initially was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence
assault, but the charge was swiftly dropped after lab tests showed
cocaine was involved.

Sheriff Rick Bart on Monday stood by his investigation and his
department's decision to recommend that prosecutors consider filing a
drug possession charge against Dantini.

Bart said he instructed detectives to have Dantini's pajama top
examined for drugs in part to test the veracity of the woman's story.

"When the results from the lab test came back, we felt we had enough
probable cause to refer the case as a felony," he said.

Ackerman said he understood why sheriff's detectives would recommend
charges. But he also said that the woman swiftly stopped cooperating
with investigators and has made it clear that she won't be a witness
against her former boyfriend.

What the woman told detectives immediately after the fracas with
Dantini would not be admissible in a criminal case unless she was
willing to testify herself, Ackerman said.

Conversely, the woman can't be hauled into court and forced to testify
about the drugs because of her Fifth Amendment protection against
self-incrimination, Ackerman said.

"What we know is the vial of cocaine was hidden in her shoe in her
car," he said. Moreover, the woman acknowledged handling the cocaine
and ripping Dantini's shirt, he said.

Given those facts, there is no way to show that the woman herself
didn't somehow leave the drug traces on Dantini's clothing, and no way
to convince a jury otherwise, Ackerman said.

"Without her testimony, I can't see any way that we are going to do
that," he added.

Dantini is nearing the end of his first four-year term in office. He
intends to seek re-election, and said earlier he is hopeful his legal
troubles won't be an issue in the race.

The Herald obtained the lab test and police reports using state public
record laws. The documents had been secret during the investigation,
but became public records after the case was closed Thursday without
charges being filed.