WENATCHEE — Judge Alicia Nakata’s rise to Chelan County Superior Court came with a side effect: More than 100 filings from lawyers that exclude her from hearing their cases.

Two days after her election, lawyers filed two affidavits of prejudice against Nakata, each barring the judge from presiding over a particular case. The trickle continued with five more affidavits in December, then became a torrent on Jan. 2, when County Clerk Kim Morrison received 45. As of Wednesday, the total was 120.

Only 46 such affidavits, which automatically exclude a judge from a case, were filed against all three sitting Superior Court judges in 2012, and 61 the year before. The phenomenon so far leaves Nakata ineligible to hear 73 criminal cases, 28 juvenile crime cases, 14 divorce proceedings and five lawsuits.

Attorneys said the situation stems from Nakata’s 17-year tenure as a District Court judge, where she proved unpopular with some defense lawyers. Despite her judicial service and five years as a deputy prosecutor, she won 36 votes to opponent Travis Brandt’s 50 from 124 lawyers surveyed by the Chelan-Douglas Bar Association before last year’s four-way primary.

In District Court she sometimes issued orders of contempt against lawyers, including John Brangwin, who specializes in DUI cases in District Court.

“I think it demonstrates that there’s a lot of concern by a broad group of attorneys as to whether she’ll be fair and impartial,” said Brangwin, who’s filed affidavits against Nakata in four Superior Court civil cases.

Affidavits of prejudice are enshrined in state law and in court rules, to ensure fair civil and criminal trials. Either party may file only one such affidavit in any lawsuit or felony case, asserting that a given judge holds an “interest or prejudice” that would affect his or her impartiality. If filed early enough in the case, the document need not cite specific evidence.

Nakata did not return a call seeking comment Thursday. Judge Lesley Allan, the court’s presiding administrative judge, said the issue does not pose a problem in the handling of cases.

“Every judge gets affidavited from time to time, so it’s certainly something that is always a possibility, and when the affidavit is filed, a case is reassigned,” said Allan, who was affidavited 14 times last year. “... If one of those cases that you’re affidavited on comes up on a calendar that you are presiding over, then you have to have another judge step in to handle that case. At this point, that’s our plan.”

Superior Court judges hear felony criminal cases, property disputes, civil lawsuits with claims above $50,000, divorces, adoptions, estate claims and mental illness actions. The 120 cases from which Nakata is excluded represent a small slice of the total — last year more than 3,000 new cases were filed in Chelan County — but amount to about 13 percent of the 516 criminal cases mounted in 2012.

Jeffrey Marchant, a juvenile public defender with the Counsel for Defense of Chelan County, filed 28 affidavits — the most of any single lawyer. He did so even though Superior Court judges only occasionally hear juvenile matters, when sitting Commissioner Bart Vandegrift is unavailable.

Marchant practiced in District Court for 10 years before moving into juvenile court in 2011.

“I’ve had occasion to appear in front of Judge Nakata quite frequently,” Marchant said. He wouldn’t comment on his reasons for filing against her, saying, “My concern is what I believe to be in the best interest of my clients.”

All told, 13 attorneys have filed prejudice affidavits against Nakata. Deputy public defenders Jeremy Ford (who was also once cited for contempt by Nakata) and Robert Gower put in affidavits in 23 and 12 cases, respectively; Brandon Redal and John Beuhler, 10 each; Brandt (who lost the judicial race to Nakata by 175 votes) and Tony DiTommaso, nine each.

Gower, who recently moved into felony defense after 18 months in District Court, said he plans to file an affidavit regarding Nakata on every Superior Court case he’s assigned. Redal, who handles public defense cases on a contract basis, said he’ll do the same.

“It’ll be in the best interests of every one of my clients,” Gower said. “And obviously, a lot of people feel the same way. And this was known by many parties all along that this would start happening, and it is.”

Brangwin said aside from conflicts with individual attorneys, Nakata “proved herself to be a very pro-prosecutor as a district court judge.”

Redal agreed. “My experience practicing in front of her for nearly 10 years is that it’s in my client’s best interests to be in front of a judge that’s more receptive to defense motions, defense arguments, than she is,” he said.

Nakata spent much of December sitting in on Superior Court hearings before her swearing-in Dec. 31. Since the start of the year she’s overseen family law trials, domestic violence orders of protection, a class action settlement and first appearances by new felony defendants. She is scheduled to preside over the criminal calendar in March, when many of the cases in which she’s affidavited may come up.

“Judge Nakata, from the moment the election was certified, has been working very hard to come up to speed on the new areas of law that she faces in Superior Court,” Allan said. “... I’ve no doubt that she’s well able to handle anything that comes before her, and we’re delighted to have her on board with us.”

The affidavits slowed after the initial flurry — 22 cases since Jan. 9. Redal and Brangwin said lawyers future filings depend on Nakata’s performance on the bench.

“She may prove a real good Superior Court judge,” Brangwin said. “She may, from her time in District Court, kind of have improved on some things that would cause people to file affidavits, so you may see those numbers drop. This may be kind of an initial reaction.”

Jefferson Robbins: 664-7123

robbins@wenatcheeworld.com