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Sequim resident raises concerns about alleged police misconduct and court-record discrepancies during public comment
Summary
At the March 3 council meeting, resident David Bridal said he has found discrepancies between his own recordings and the Anacortes Municipal Court’s published audio and raised concerns about police misconduct; he said he discussed the issue with Court Clerk Rebecca Welch and sought transcripts for appeals.
David Bridal, a resident of Sequim and frequent visitor to Anacortes, spoke during the March 3 public-comment period to raise allegations about police misconduct and what he said were alterations to the Anacortes Municipal Court audio records.
"I've become aware of evidence of tampering with the court record within the Anacortes Municipal Court," Bridal told the council. He said his review of online audio files and correspondence with Court Clerk Rebecca Welch led him to believe that audio recordings and published dates differ from his own recordings of the same proceedings.
Bridal described his difficulty obtaining a written transcript for use on appeal. He said the court clerk told him the court does not provide transcripts but that audio recordings are available on the court’s website. Bridal said that when he later compared his own recordings to the website audio, "it's different than what's on your website. It's obviously been edited, and the publishing dates are different." He asked the council to note the concern.
The council did not act on the comment; it was taken under public comment with no follow-up action recorded during the meeting. The public comment occurred before the council moved on to the consent agenda.
A second, brief public speaker (identified only as Ray) offered a joke at Bridal’s invitation; no other substantive public comments were recorded that night.
