Ex-Alaska federal judge Joshua Kindred texted with a federal prosecutor about an ongoing criminal trial where he was presiding and she attended, defense lawyers said in a new federal appeals court filing.

Kindred’s sexualized relationship with that assistant US attorney who previously served as his clerk helped prompt his resignation in July, and defense attorneys are citing the newly disclosed texts as part of an effort to get the defendant a new trial.

That clerk-turned-prosecutor attended an October 2022 criminal trial over which Kindred presided, and “communicated with Kindred via text during the pendency of the trial” in messages that contained “case-related commentary,” the Alaska federal defenders office said in filings Wednesday at the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The defendant, Jessica Spayd, was found guilty of drug distribution offenses and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The government told defense counsel that it obtained the texts after the trial, but before the defendant was sentenced in June 2023, according to the declaration, signed by Michael Marks of the Alaska federal defenders and filed alongside a motion to pause his client’s appeal while Spayd seeks a new trial.

“U.S. Attorney’s Office management indisputably knew of the conflicts shortly after the verdict,” the motion said. However, the government did not inform defense counsel or the trial prosecutors until nearly two years after the conviction, according to the filings.

Alaska US Attorney Lane Tucker and her top deputy, Kathryn Vogel, “allowed the trial prosecutors to go to sentencing without any knowledge of Kindred’s conflict of interest or the text messages” he exchanged with his former clerk-toward-prosecutor during the trial, the motion said.

“For his part, Kindred never revealed any conflict of interest to Ms. Spayd before he sentenced her to 30 years in prison,” the motion said.

A spokesperson for the Alaska US attorney’s office and a representative for the former clerk didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The exchange of text messages between Kindred and a prosecutor regarding an ongoing criminal case hasn’t previously been reported.

Prosecutors disclosed the text messages to defense counsel in August, according to the public defenders’ motion. The government has also provided two batches of text messages between Kindred and his former clerk, which were shared under a protective order.

Case conflicts

Spayd’s case is one of several where lawyers have indicated plans to request a new trial in light of potential conflicts of interest stemming from Kindred’s misconduct.

The Ninth Circuit Judicial Council found that the former judge sexually harassed his clerk, created a hostile work environment for other employees, had inappropriate relationships with lawyers who appeared before him, and lied about his conduct to investigators.

The US attorney’s office has said it learned of these conflicts in fall of 2022 and referred the allegations to the Ninth Circuit to investigate.

Last month, a federal judge ordered a new trial for an Alaska man convicted of cyberstalking in Kindred’s courtroom, on judicial misconduct grounds. That new trial was granted because of the involvement in the case of a senior prosecutor, later identified by Bloomberg Law as Karen Vandergaw, who was found to have sent nude photos to Kindred.

The case is USA v. Jessica Spayd, 9th Cir., No. 23-1303, 10/9/24

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key as a Category 3 storm late Wednesday.

As the storm moved in, winds reached more than 100 mph with catastrophic flooding expected along much of Florida’s central Gulf Coast.

Alaska’s News Source Meteorologist Robert Forgit is in Orlando where the airport closed early Wednesday and the streets are bare as the wind and rain increase.

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JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (KTUU) – Alaska Army National Guardsman will soon head down to the Lower 48 as part of the federal Southwest Border Mission to support U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The nearly 12-month deployment will bring 20 Alaska-based soldiers and two UH-72A Lakota helicopters to New Mexico. Among the guardsmen are air crews, maintenance technicians, and additional support personnel.

On Monday, a deployment ceremony brought the deployed soldiers’ friends and family to the Alaska National Guard Joint Force Headquarters to celebrate a traditional Army sendoff.

For some of the guardsmen, like Spc. Derek Ruckle — an aircraft maintainer who joined the guard three years ago — this will be their first deployment.

“There’s definitely some nerves, but it’s equal part nerves and excitement,” Ruckle said. “There’s a lot of opportunities for career growth, as well as just experiencing somewhere new.”

The unit of soldiers — known as Detachment 2, C Company, 3-140th Security and Support Battalion — was formed after the Army National Guard received initial notification to prepare for the mission in January.

It’s the second deployment for Sgt. Marvin Caparas, who previously served overseas in Kuwait, Iraq and Jordan. He’ll miss his wife and three kids but feels this deployment will be less challenging, logistically, to keep in contact with them.

“I feel a bit at ease, because I’m still kind of close to them and still within the U.S.,” Caparas said.

Caparas will serve as an aviation fueler during the nearly year-long mission. He’ll be serving alongside several members of the unit who were also on his previous deployment.

The deployment is a first for Spc. Hannah Kinder, a crew chief and maintainer who joined the National Guard just over two years ago. She’s looking forward to the opportunity to work in a new environment alongside her brother, who is also deploying.

“I’m excited for it,” Kinder said. “We’ve both been working side-by-side together, and we both volunteered for this deployment, and I’m excited to go down with him as well.”

Kinder started her career working on Black Hawk helicopters but transitioned her training to the Lakotas over the last five months in preparation for the deployment.

She said the months-long training as also given the chance to bond and learn how to work cohesively together.

The unit will team up with guardsmen from other states to provide aviation support to enhance the mission of the Customs Border Protection’s security operations.

The Detachment’s Commander, Capt. Kyle Johnson, said despite this being his first deployment since joining the National Guard in 2009 — joining Alaska, specifically, in 2021 after serving for over a decade in the Minnesota National Guard — he’s not nervous to lead the unit.

“I probably should be nervous, right? But we have such a good, formidable team that we’ve set up here, I’m honestly not — I think that we’re ready for whatever we need to do,” Johnson said. “I’m really, really confident in our team.”

The crew removed the blades on the two Lakotas and loaded the helicopters onto an Alaska Air National Guard C-17 Globemaster III for transport.

The soldiers are anticipating to leave for the deployment on Friday.

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