Accuser’s lawyer wants to depose Seattle mayor next month

By Lewis Kamb

The Seattle Times

SEATTLE — The lawyer for a man suing Seattle Mayor Ed Murray for allegedly sexually abusing him as a drug-addicted teenager three decades ago has filed a formal court notice to have Murray deposed on May 2.

Lincoln Beauregard — the attorney representing the 46-year-old Kent man identified by his initials, D.H., in the suit filed last week — said in the deposition notice that Murray can expect to be questioned about “the facts of this case including the various potential causes of the medical matters referenced publicly by his attorneys” during a Tuesday news conference.

Robert Sulkin, the mayor’s attorney, said in an email Wednesday afternoon that Beauregard’s efforts to quickly depose the mayor smack of politics.

“No one, including Mayor Murray, even knows who the accuser is, and Mayor Murray is in no position to answer questions until he does,” Sulkin’s email stated. “All we know is the accuser has a criminal record and has provided false information to his own lawyer and the public.”

During a news conference Tuesday, Sulkin sought to discredit D.H. by revealing the results of a recent medical exam of Murray that show no trace of a bump or mole on his genitalia, as claimed in the lawsuit.

“This is game-changing,” Sulkin told the media. “This is the heart of the allegations, and they’re false.”

Beauregard said his client is telling the truth and intends to take the case to trial.

Separate from the lawsuit, two other men also have accused Murray of decades-ago sexual abuse, in recent interviews with The Seattle Times. The men, Jeff Simpson and Lloyd Anderson, said they first met Murray when they lived at a center for troubled children in Portland, Ore., where Murray worked from 1977 to 1980. Murray, who was formally served with the lawsuit at the mayor’s office in City Hall on Wednesday, has denied their allegations. His lawyer and a personal spokesman have contended the allegations are politically motivated. All three accusers, who have lived troubled lives and have serious criminal records, separately have said telling the truth is their chief motivation.

D.H., a former crack-cocaine addict who says he’s been sober for about a year, said in an interview last week that his decision to go public with his allegations is part of a personal healing and recovery process.

Still, in the subpoena and deposition notice filed Wednesday, Beauregard included political elements. The notice states that Murray will be asked “about the prior use of campaign funds to extinguish the voices of other victims, and all other topics related to the lawsuit.”

In 2008, Murray, then a Democratic state senator, paid a Portland attorney and a private investigator more than $18,000 to defend against claims by Simpson. Simpson raised his allegations to journalists and others that year after a lawyer withdrew from Simpson’s attempt to sue Murray.

The state Public Disclosure Commission said this week too much time has passed to investigate whether or not Murray’s spending of those funds was inappropriate.

The notice also asks that Murray be deposed before May 19 — the deadline for any potential challengers to Murray’s re-election bid later this year to register as candidates. Asked why, if the lawsuit isn’t politically motivated, D.H. would seek to depose Murray before the filing deadline, Beauregard said in an email: “My client is now angry that the Mayor is lying to the public and feels as though the voters should know the truth before they are stuck with this Mayor.”

Countered Sulkin: “It has become increasingly clear that this case is a political effort. We look forward to deposing the accuser when more information is provided by and about him.”