2nd Degree Rape Charge Formally Dropped Against Cashmere Man

There will be no more action in a rape case against a 26-year-old Cashmere man after the case was formally dismissed in Chelan County.

The dismissal completes the process after the state Supreme Court declined to hear an Appeals Court decision.

The Appeals court determined that Blake Alexander Badgley could not be retried for sexual assault because of a double jeopardy conflict.

A Chelan County jury did not convict Badgley of third-degree rape, and could not reach a decision on a second-degree rape charge.

The Supreme Court's refusal to take the case means Badgley is cleared of the second-degree charge.

County prosecutors had asked the supreme court to review appeals court Judge George Fearing's opinion for the majority in the 2-1 appeals court decision.

The county said Fearing's opinion raises new questions, including prosecutorial ethics, that should be determined by the supreme court.

Fearing labeled the prosecution as unethical for its assertions that the victim was actually asleep during the alleged sex at trial and then on appeal argued that she was, in fact, awake during a portion of the act.

The county claimed the appellate procedure did not give the appeals court the ability to raise such an issue.

The Supreme Court evidently did not find the county's argument persuasive in its decision to not consider the case.

Chelan County prosecutors charged Badgley for allegedly having sex with a woman who was too intoxicated to consent while at a party in Monitor in 2018.

Superior Court Judge Robert Jourdan ruled in 2021 that Badgley could be retried on the second-degree charge, but on appeal Badgley's defense argued that would constitute double jeopardy.

The dismissal in Chelan County last Wednesday came with prejudice, meaning it cannot be retried in that court.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Badgley was convicted of third-degree rape.