Tenino Mayor Wayne Fournier talks about his plans for the coming months at his office in Tenino in this photograph from February 2016. It was Fournier's first full year as mayor of the South Thurston County city.
Tenino Mayor Wayne Fournier has agreed to enter two years of diversion with the goal to dismiss a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from an altercation at the Tenino Eagles Club last summer, according to Thurston County District Court documents.
Thurston County prosecutors charged Fournier with fourth-degree assault in August.
According to a Thurston County Sheriff’s Office incident report, Fournier was part of a group of men standing next to the bar, in an area not intended for customers. A female employee asked them to move, and a security guard later also asked them to leave, according to witness accounts.
When the employee told the group she’d call 911 if they didn’t leave and picked up a phone, Fournier allegedly hit the phone out of her hand “forcefully, striking her hand,” the report reads.
Fournier denied the assault allegation and entered a not guilty plea. The case would’ve been headed to trial, but court documents show the parties signed an agreement March 3 for Fournier to enter into the Thurston County Friendship Diversion program instead.
Friendship Diversion Services is a Thurston County-based nonprofit that now has a presence in several Washington counties and cities. It assigns case managers to monitor the compliance of defendants who have agreed to enter diversion, Executive Director Ronnie Wuest told The Olympian. Case managers also assign the vast majority of clients community service hours.
If Fournier complies with the program’s requirements for the next two years, the pending charges will be dismissed, according to the agreement.
If he doesn’t comply, he’ll be removed from the program and prosecutors will resume prosecuting the case, according to the agreement. A judge can then determine guilt or innocence based on the law enforcement reports filed in the case.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of 364 days imprisonment and a $5,000 fine, according to the agreement.
Fournier also agreed to complete an “alcohol drug information school class” and to have no criminal law violations for the duration of the agreement, which lasts through March 3, 2022.
Thurston County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Liz Dasse told The Olympian the agreement was a good fit for this situation due to Fournier’s lack of serious adult criminal history, and because the victim in the case was consulted and OK with it.
In some cases, diversion involves deferring a sentence after a person is already convicted, according to Dasse. But, in this case, no conviction is required and the charge can be completely dismissed.
“It’s really good for people who don’t spend a lot of time in the criminal justice system,” she told The Olympian.
Fournier’s defense attorney, Greg Rhodes, wrote in a prepared statement that this agreement allowed the mayor to “control the outcome” of the case.
“My client would like to thank the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney’s office for crafting a resolution to this matter that made sense for all concerned,” Rhodes wrote. “Mayor Fournier denied the allegations and intended to seek dismissal of the charges through trial; however, there is always uncertainty in trial. The diversion agreement allows my client to control the outcome and ensure dismissal.”
Fournier ran unopposed for re-election in November 2019. He received 231 votes, 61.4% of the total, while 145 votes went to write-ins.
