Super Lawyers - Washington 2012

Much came down to Burman’s cross-examination of the Republican expert witnesses, including a California college professor whose statistical theory was central to their case.

“I never studied statistics in college, and
I’ve always wished I had,” Burman says. “So
I’m sort of self-taught. A big part of it was
reading what the witness had written and
looking for inconsistencies.”
He found them. In court, he repeatedly
apologized for his lack of sophistication on
the subject, luring the professor into his trap.
“I felt he was very dismissive of me,” Burman
says. “He could not believe this lawyer was
going to attack his work. And he wouldn’t
look at me.”
When the time was right, as the witness
peered toward the Republican lawyers for
help, Burman pounced. “Please quit looking
at them,” he barked. “Look at me and answer
my questions.”
The opposing lawyers protested, and the
judge wagged his finger at Burman. But the
witness was shaken.

That was when it became clear that the Rossi lawyers’ argument had fallen apart, says Jenny Durkan, a fellow Democratic lawyer at the time who is now the U.S. attorney for Western Washington. Burman had done his homework, grasped the Republican statistical argument, and made his own case that the elections errors had not affected the outcome. The Republicans, for example, had argued that ineligible felons were likely to vote Democrat; Burman and company were able to demonstrate that crooks are bipartisan. Democrats presented evidence that five felons they had interviewed said they had voted against Gregoire.

A few days later, Judge John Bridges,
reputed to be a Republican himself, issued his
judgment. Yes, there had been sloppy work
by lazy election officers, he said. But “there
is no evidence that the significant errors …
resulted from someone’s desire to manipulate
the election.” He specifically dismissed the
Republican statistical argument, declaring
their expert’s analysis to be “not consistent
with generally accepted scientific standards.”
It was an important win for Democrats,
Burman says, but also for the electoral
process itself.