Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer has lost the confidence of the people of Lewis County, including mine. The prosecutor’s office under his lack of leadership has in my opinion had a long history of bungling cases, not filing charges and inexplicably resisting independent oversight. His record is spotty at best and needs to be reexamined in light of multiple cases in which he has failed the people of Lewis County repeatedly.
The Aron Christensen case was the final public proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. His alleged professional and personal dispute with Sheriff Rob Snaza and his failure to file charges, any charges, in this case is a slap to the face of the grieving family, the people of Lewis County and the institution of justice for all. Yet sadly, there are others.
The latest case is that of an alleged rape by former deputy Joseph Solberg. The Chronicle’s article dated June 23 paints a disturbing picture of Prosecutor Meyer’s conduct. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office forwarded the case to the Chehalis Police department and Prosecutor Meyer. In the victim interview conducted by Meyer himself regarding the allegations, he was “only Interested in hearing about the first night, not the second,” according to the victim’s statement to reporter Isabel Vander Stoep. Furthermore, the victim received a letter from Meyer’s office declining to prosecute the case because “we just don’t feel like there is enough evidence to press charges.”
I wonder how the victim felt after he did not even have the basic decency to call her personally, let alone believe her?
Another case of incompetence was evidenced by the dismissal with prejudice (meaning the charges can’t be refiled) charges against Ryan Moulder accused of blowing up a First Security Bank ATM in December 2021. Prosecutor Meyer failed to provide all the discovery evidence (over 100 pages plus a video) in this case to the defense attorney until the day of a court hearing to dismiss the case and was officially sanctioned by the presiding judge in the form of outright dismissing the case.
His excuse? “I was confident we had it all.”
Yet he never checked? The defense attorney for the alleged bomber said it best after the charges were dismissed. “The prejudice is done,” he said, later adding, “I don’t trust him (Meyer) at this point for anything.”.
These three cases are just some of the latest examples of Meyer’s prosecutorial indifference, incompetence and inexplicable interference that resulted in justice denied and justice destroyed. He ”never checked,” refused to file, refused to call, refused to believe, refused to explain, refused to follow up. Meyer has failed the people of Lewis County. I am sure there are many other examples.
The defense attorney’s statement in the Moulder case perfectly sums up the lack of confidence in Meyer’s ability and competence as the Lewis County prosecutor. “I don’t trust him at this point for anything.”
Mitchel Townsend
Silver Creek
