06:59 PM PDT on Thursday, July 20, 2006

By PAUL AKER / KING 5 News

OLYMPIA, Wash. - James Degroff, once convicted for child molestation, is getting a second chance to proving he never molested a 6-year-old girl four years ago. What’s so rare about this case is not that it's going back to court, but the reason why. The answer lies in the back halls of the Thurston County Courthouse.

In 2003, the first trial judge unwittingly unraveled the case by accepting an ordinary doughnut. The trouble is, the judge took the doughnut from a juror deciding the case.

After Degroff's conviction, his attorney accused Judge Richard Strophy of making biased comments about Degroff during sidebar conversations. The claims could not be substantiated. But because Judge Strophy took the doughnut and later had a brief conversation with a different juror about a potluck dinner, an appeals court threw out the first verdict and ordered a new trial.

That has caused a new round of pain for the victim.

KING

James Degroff was accused of molesting a 6-year-old girl four years ago.

“It's unbelievable a child would have to testify to horrific acts of child molestation,” said deputy prosecutor Christy Peters. “I can't even imagine what is going through a child's mind when she has to testify to this on two occasions.”

Judge Strophy seems equally bothered by it all. He said the case was "technicality upon technicality...some illusion of impropriety weaved together by a defense attorney and the appeals court went for it."

Right or wrong, the second trial gives Degroff the benefit of time. The victim's memory may have faded a bit.

And for an attorney skilled enough to turn a doughnut into a new trial, turning a girl's inconsistency into an acquittal might not be so far fetched.