UPDATE: The jury deliberating the case against Pierce County Superior Court Judge Michael Hecht has gone home for the day without rendering a verdict.

Jurors are expected back at the County-City Building on Wednesday morning to continue their deliberations.

PREVIOUS POST: A Pierce County jury began deliberating the case against Superior Court Judge Michael Hecht this afternoon after attorneys in the case delivered their closing arguments this morning.

Hecht is charged with one count each of felony harassment and patronizing a prostitute.

Assistant attorney general John Hillman argued this morning that Hecht for years trolled downtown Tacoma for male prostitutes …

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Jurors hearing the criminal case against Pierce County Superior Court Judge Michael Hecht could start their deliberations today.

They’ll receive jury instructions first thing this morning, then listen to the closing arguments from the prosecution and defense.

Hecht has been charged with felony harassment and patronizing a prostitute. He testified for a good portion of Monday and adamantly denied the charges against him. Find The News Tribune’s previous coverage here.

The closing arguments will conclude a nearly two-week trial. A jury of nine men and five women have been listening to the testimony. Two of those jurors will …

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Pierce County Superior Court Judge Michael Hecht took the witness stand this morning in his own defense and emphatically denied knowing two men who previously testified that they sold sex to Hecht.

“Until he walked in here to testify, I had never seen John Marx ever,” Hecht said in response to a question from his attorney, Wayne Fricke.

He gave a similar response when Fricke asked him about Eddie Smith.

Marx and Smith both testified during the state’s case that they had sex with Hecht at his law office on North Pearl Street prior to Hecht being elected judge. Hecht …

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Pierce County Superior Court Judge Michael Hecht has taken the stand in his trial.

Hecht, who is charged with felony harassment and patronizing a prostitute, started testifying at 10:45 a.m.

Courts reporter Adam Lynn is inside the courtroom and will report on what Hecht says.

For previous coverage of the Hecht trial, go here.

A 50-year-old man testified this morning that Superior Court Judge Michael Hecht threatened to kill the witness’ boyfriend last August on the streets of Tacoma.

Michael Mundorff’s testimony came on the second day of Hecht’s trial on charges of harassment and patronizing a prostitute. The judge has pleaded not guilty.

Mundorff spent more than an hour on the stand. He talked about his three-year relationship with Joseph Hesketh IV and the day during the late summer of 2008 that they encountered Hecht not far from Antique Row in downtown Tacoma.

Under questioning from assistant attorney general John Hillman, Mundorff testified …

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Lawyers will make opening statements Wednesday morning in the criminal case against Pierce County Superior Court Judge Michael Hecht.

A jury of nine men and five women was seated less than an hour ago to hear the case. Two of those jurors will serve as alternates.

Hecht is charged with one count of felony harassment for allegedly threatening to kill a man and one count of patronizing a prostitute, a misdemeanor.

He’s pleaded not guilty.

The trial is expected to last two weeks.

Look for an update on tomorrow’s court action early in the afternoon and another about 6 p.m. …

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Jury selection began this morning in the criminal case against Pierce County Superior Court Judge Michael A. Hecht.

Court administrators were expected to hand out questionnaires to 75 people, and lawyers hoped to begin the process of whittling that number down to 14 (a jury of 12 plus two alternates) this afternoon.

A jury is not expected to be seated until at least Tuesday. The trial is expected to take at least two weeks.

Hecht is charged with one count of felony harassment and one count of patronizing a prostitute. The latter charge is a misdemeanor. Assistant attorney …

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The Washington Supreme Court today notified attorneys for The News Tribune that the high court will consider the newspaper’s request for a copy of the video-recorded testimony of a key witness in the criminal case against Pierce County Superior Court Judge Michael Hecht.

Justices will entertain the request Sept. 30 without hearing oral arguments, deputy clerk Susan Carlson wrote in a letter to TNT attorneys and other lawyers involved in the case.

The justices also directed attorney’s for King County Superior Court Judge James Cayce to submit a response to the newspaper’s pleadings. The TNT contends …

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