Disbarred Judge Banned From Practice of Law After Giving Whiskey to Witness

SEATTLE — A former judge once removed from the bench and disbarred for reducing a young woman’s traffic citation has been banned from practicing law after giving two half-gallon bottles of whiskey to an alcoholic who was to testify against him in a property dispute.

The latest expulsion for William Simmons, 60, stemmed from a 1986 trial in Snohomish County in which he was defending his ownership of land.

One day before the trial, he gave the whiskey to a key witness who was expected to testify against him. The witness during the trial told the court that the whiskey was “something like a bribe.”