State Supreme Court candidate Jim Bates denied yesterday that in 1991 he made obscene phone calls from his office and made sexual comments about autopsy photos of female murder victims.

In allegations first published Tuesday, a former Superior Court criminal-case manager, Jill Picchena, accused Bates of making anonymous obscene calls to her and sending the article to her. She also alleged that Bates asked her to look at an autopsy photo of a murdered woman, saying the victim liked anal sex.

In addition, a former bailiff for Bates, who lived with him for five years during a romantic relationship in the 1980s, alleged through her attorney that Bates had shown her autopsy photos of female victims on several occasions and had made crude sexual comments about them.

State Supreme Court candidate Jim Bates denied yesterday that in 1991 he made obscene phone calls from his office and made sexual comments about autopsy photos of female murder victims.

Bates, a King County Superior Court judge, acknowledged that he sent an article on genital mutilation to a co-worker in 1991, but insisted he circulated it in a joking way that was more commonplace at the time - before workplace sexual harassment became a widespread concern.

In allegations first published Tuesday, a former Superior Court criminal-case manager, Jill Picchena, accused Bates of making anonymous obscene calls to her and sending the article to her. She also alleged that Bates asked her to look at an autopsy photo of a murdered woman, saying the victim liked anal sex.

In addition, a former bailiff for Bates, who lived with him for five years during a romantic relationship in the 1980s, alleged through her attorney that Bates had shown her autopsy photos of female victims on several occasions and had made crude sexual comments about them.

Both women stood by their allegations yesterday.

David Akana, executive director of the state Commission on Judicial Conduct, yesterday declined to discuss the case. While not speaking specifically about the complaints made against Bates, Akana said the commission is free to initiate, with or without a formal complaint, investigations of such allegations regardless of when the events occurred. The commission can recommend action up to and including removal from the bench for judicial misconduct.

In offering his denials and explanations, Bates went beyond written remarks issued Tuesday in which he admitted to making "mistakes" but declined to directly address the allegations.

Bates reiterated that he believes the allegations amounted to "eleventh-hour character assassination," designed to harm him before Tuesday's election. Bates is challenging Supreme Court Justice Barbara Madsen.

The Post-Intelligencer has found that the allegations surfaced some time ago.

Suzanne Thomas, an attorney representing the former bailiff, said her client initiated a "back-door communication" with Bates at the time of the primary election, hoping to get him to drop out of the race in light of her concerns about his past conduct.

But the former bailiff did not have any contact with the Madsen campaign and did not initiate contact with reporters, Thomas said.

And Madsen's husband, Don, was making inquiries about Bates' conduct after the September primary.

The allegations of misconduct didn't become widely known until Tuesday's publication of a Seattle Times article.

Though Bates initially denied that he knew Picchena had made complaints in 1991, he later said he narrowly interpreted a reporter's question about whether the Superior Court's presiding judge had looked into Picchena's allegations. Bates repeatedly told the Times he was unaware of any review by the presiding judge.

"The question was, `Did you meet regarding a complaint?' " Bates said, providing his version of questions by a Times reporter.

Court officials have confirmed that no formal grievance was filed.

For that reason, Bates said, he didn't tell the Times reporter that the presiding judge, Charles Johnson, had informally met with him in 1991 and told him to be careful about telling jokes in the workplace.

Johnson, now retired, has declined comment, calling it a personnel issue.

Johnson's meeting with Bates wasn't disclosed until Monday, when the current presiding judge, Bobbe Bridge, issued a statement saying that Johnson had met with Bates and taken the matter seriously. No further incidents were reported, Bridge said.

Bates didn't disclose his claim of an informal contact until Tuesday.

Events leading up to that disclosure started just after the Sept. 15 primary, from which Bates and Madsen emerged as opponents for the general election. Picchena said she, the bailiff and another woman who had worked for Bates then discussed concerns about him.

The other woman, who has chosen not to come forward, also had been shown autopsy photos by Bates in an inappropriate context, Picchena said.

About that time, she said, Don Madsen, a public defender in Seattle, contacted her.

"He called me in September to say that he remembered that . . . there had been something that had gone on previously between Bates and I and would I be willing at some time to talk about it," Picchena said. "And I said, `of course.' "

Shortly after, a Times reporter contacted her, she said. Before speaking with Madsen, she said, she had already decided to make public her allegations.

"When I heard that Jim Bates was running for the Supreme Court," she said, referring to late July or early August, "I knew that at some time I was going to tell my story. I just hadn't picked the vehicle I was going to use."

Don Madsen declined comment yesterday, leaving unclear what role he might have played in the disclosure of the allegations.

Barbara Madsen said yesterday that she and her husband had heard about the allegations, but that she and her husband decided not to use the information for political gain.

Picchena, 39, who left her court job last year, said she and the bailiff decided to share their stories, but the other woman did not.

Bates, a Superior Court judge since 1980, said yesterday that he considered Picchena to be a smart and valued employee when she worked at the court, but his contacts with her were limited to off-color jokes to each other that often arose from the stress of handling horrific criminal cases.

"There was never any anonymous calls," he said. "She was a friend of mine, somebody I knew for 11 years."

Picchena has alleged that Bates three times made anonymous, lewd comments to her from his office phone, which registered on a caller identification system on her phone. She said she also recognized his voice.

In denying that he ever improperly displayed autopsy photos, Bates said, "I do not consider autopsy photos funny in any way. They are not humorous."

As for the article he gave to Picchena, titled "Scrotum self- repair," Bates said, "Those types of things were going about the courthouse in that time."

"It was a different time back then," he said. "There was a different working environment. Now there is a heightened standard of awareness in the workplace. I would not have intentionally offend her in any way."

Picchena said yesterday she was frightened by conduct she attributes to Bates. She said she held Bates in high regard until then, but feared him because he is a "powerful man and he was well connected."

P-I reporter Steve Miletich can be reached at 206-448-8042 or stevemiletich@seattle-pi.com