Cashmere Man Cleared As Supreme Court Declines To Hear Sexual Assault Case

The Washington Supreme Court is declining to hear an appeal from Chelan County over a sexual assault case involving a Cashmere man. 

The county went to the Supreme Court after the state Appeals Court determined that Blake Alexander Badgley could not be retried for sexual assault because of a double jeopardy conflict. 

Previously in the same case, a Chelan County jury could not reach a decision on a second-degree rape charge.  

The Supreme Court's refusal to take the case means Badgley is now cleared of all criminal charges. 

Chelan County contended the appeals court decision conflicts with previous supreme court decisions on double jeopardy.  

County prosecutors had also 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.