Police Probe if Lawyer Used Westlaw to Research His Alleged Rape Victims
Updated: Police are investigating whether a Seattle lawyer accused of rape used Westlaw to find home addresses and personal information about some of his alleged victims, according to a search-warrant affidavit.
The affidavit reveals “explosive new details” about the investigation of lawyer Danford Grant, KIROTV.com reports. Grant has been charged with four counts of first-degree rape and one count of second-degree rape for alleged attacks on four massage therapists and a massage clinic cashier, the Seattle Times reports in its story on the affidavit. He has been released on $1 million bail.
After Grant’s arrest, his law partner David Onsager removed Grant’s computer from the law firm network, locked it up, and gave it to police after receiving a search warrant, according to affidavit information revealed by the stories. Police are investigating Grant’s Westlaw use and data he saved on massage parlors, massage therapists, escorts and Asian women, the Times says. Three of the alleged victims are Chinese immigrants.
According to KIROTV.com, “Investigators said they wanted the computer because they believe Grant used his online tools and his knowledge as an attorney to research his alleged victims, find where they lived and who they loved, so that information could be used against them.”
The affidavit also alleged that Grant’s wife, deputy Seattle city attorney Jennifer Grant, had moved her husband’s Honda Pilot in the days after his Sept. 24 arrest. She moved the vehicle from a location near a massage clinic where the last rape allegedly occurred to a location about a mile away from their home, her lawyer told police. Her lawyer revealed the location of the vehicle Oct. 21, the affidavit says.
Police also allege Jennifer Grant used a key card to access the parking garage for her husband’s downtown law office on Sept 27.
Danford Grant’s lawyer, Richard Hansen, told KIRO that Jennifer Grant decided not to park the vehicle near their home because “she was being hounded by the media,” and she did nothing to alter evidence. Hansen said she used the key card to visit a lawyer.
The Seattle City Attorney’s office announced on Wednesday that Jennifer Grant has been reassigned to duties that don’t include courtroom prosecution work, the Seattle Times reports.
Updated on Nov. 8 to report Jennifer Grant’s reassignment and to include exact charges.
