State Supreme Court candidate Jim Bates declined yesterday to directly address allegations that in 1991 he made obscene phone calls from his office and made sexual remarks to co-workers.

In addition to Picchena, Bates has been accused by a former bailiff - who was once his domestic partner - of making crude comments about autopsy photographs of female victims, an attorney for the former bailiff said yesterday.

Former King County Superior Court Judge Carmen Otero said yesterday that Picchena spoke to her about Bates at about the time the allegations were reported to [Charles] Johnson and [Anne] Ellington. Picchena told of receiving at least one obscene call from Bates, Otero said.

State Supreme Court candidate Jim Bates declined yesterday to directly address allegations that in 1991 he made obscene phone calls from his office and made sexual remarks to co-workers.

Bates, a King County Superior Court judge, said in written remarks that the allegations are "nothing more than an eleventh-hour character assassination trying to affect the outcome of an election."

But he also said he had made "mistakes" and in the past had told jokes that could have been deemed offensive, for which he apologized at the time.

"While I am willing to admit to certain mistakes, I do not believe my conduct in any way has affected my abilities or qualifications for the state Supreme Court," Bates said.

He did not respond to specific allegations made by Jill Picchena, a former Superior Court criminal-case manager.

In 1991, Picchena complained about Bates to two senior judges, saying he had placed anonymous obscene calls to her and had spoken in sexual terms about an autopsy photo of a murdered woman.

In addition to Picchena, Bates has been accused by a former bailiff - who was once his domestic partner - of making crude comments about autopsy photographs of female victims, an attorney for the former bailiff said yesterday.

The allegations surfaced yesterday in The Seattle Times, just a week before Tuesday's election. Bates is challenging Justice Barbara Madsen.

Reached at her home last night, Picchena said, "I just believed it was a story that needed to come to the public's attention because he's running for the highest court in the state."

Madsen called the allegations an unfortunate turn of events for Bates.

"The truth is, I felt like I was winning" before the allegations were made public, she said. "From my perspective I was thinking Tuesday is only a week away and I was happy. I didn't need this to happen."

Court officials told the Post-Intelligencer that Picchena complained about Bates in 1991 to the Superior Court's presiding judge, Charles Johnson, and the assistant presiding judge, Anne Ellington. She didn't file a written grievance or take formal action, they said.

The court's current presiding judge, Bobbe Bridge, said in a written statement that Johnson "took the matter seriously," met with Bates and "no further problems were reported."

Johnson, now retired, declined comment, saying the allegations are a confidential personnel matter. Ellington, now a state Appeals Court judge, was unavailable for comment.

Bates, a Superior Court judge since 1980, confirmed that Johnson advised him "in an informal manner to `be careful with jokes in the workplace.' "

"I was not advised in detail of what was offensive but I took the matter to heart," Bates wrote. "I apologized to the clerk and believed the matter was resolved seven years ago."

Former King County Superior Court Judge Carmen Otero said yesterday that Picchena spoke to her about Bates at about the time the allegations were reported to Johnson and Ellington. Picchena told of receiving at least one obscene call from Bates, Otero said.

"I would never doubt her credibility," said Otero, who retired in 1995. "She was not flighty. She was not a complainer. She was not the type to get shocked easily."

Otero said she couldn't recall if Picchena mentioned photographs, but that overall Picchena appeared "surprised and shocked" by her dealings with Bates.

"When Jill speaks, I take her seriously," said Otero, adding that she left it to Johnson to deal with the complaint against Bates.

Picchena said her first problem with Bates occurred in the spring of 1991. She said he asked her several times to look at an autopsy photo of a woman who had been stabbed 100 times, saying, "The victim was really into anal sex."

Picchena also alleges that during the summer of 1991 Bates:

-- Telephoned her anonymously at work and asked her if she could continue doing several tasks at once if he was performing oral sex under her desk on her. She said she recognized his voice and that his number appeared on a caller ID system.

-- Sent her a copy of an article on human sexuality titled, "Scrotum self-repair," about accidental genital mutilation, with a handwritten note saying, "Hi Jill: Is this guy one of your former boyfriends? Enjoy J."

-- Called her anonymously at work, saying, "I know you enjoy hurting me. I'd like you to come down in your high-heeled shoes, jump up and down on my chest with your skirt flying up around your head." The caller ID showed the call was from Bates' chambers, Picchena said.

Bates was single at the time of the alleged incidents, but has been married the last 6 1/2 years. While not addressing the issue of the telephone calls at all, Bates said jokes or "inappropriate cracks" sometimes are made in chambers to relieve the tension and stress of a job in which he sees horrific photographs and deals with the "worst society can produce."

"My only excuse for the conduct, which does not excuse it, is that I am human," he said.

Bates said he didn't want to engage in a "she said, I said debate," but was willing to take responsibility for his actions, with the hope voters will remember he has been a good judge for 18 years and that the allegations are seven years old.

Picchena's mother, Joan Picchena, said that in 1991 her daughter spoke to her family about the alleged incidents.

"She went to the people at work, to supervisors and everything," the mother said. "She would have never come out if he had not chosen to run for higher office. She just doesn't feel he should be in higher office and neither do we (her parents)."

The former bailiff who also accused Bates was not named by the Times, nor would her attorney, Suzanne Thomas, identify her. Thomas said she was hired by the woman to help persuade Bates not to run for the high court because of past conduct.

It was unclear last night whether the former bailiff is active in the Supreme Court campaign. Picchena said she is not active in the campaign.

Picchena's domestic partner, Gary Drake, said last night that "for him (Bates) to claim that any part of this is his opponent's doing is ludicrous. It doesn't have anything to do with that. It has to do with what's right."

Thomas, speaking for the former bailiff, said that Bates made crude remarks about the autopsy photographs of female victims.

The woman, who had a romantic relationship with Bates in the 1980s, plans no legal action against Bates, Thomas said.

The former bailiff alleges that in 1986 Bates showed her autopsy photos of a victim in a murder trial taking place in his courtroom, Thomas said.

According to her client, Thomas said, Bates remarked, "Do you see her breasts? They're just as beautiful as yours."

Bates said he doesn't remember making the comment.

"We lived together for five years and I would not have intentionally offended her in any way," he said.

The Times had endorsed Bates in the primary election, but reversed itself Sunday, saying Bates was a "very good trial judge" who presented himself as consensus-builder who could improve the workings of the high court, but had damaged his credibility by making unsubstantiated allegations against Madsen.

The Post-Intelligencer has endorsed Madsen.

P-I reporter Scott Sunde contributed to this report.

P-I reporter Steve Miletich

can be reached at 206-448-8042

or stevemiletich@seattle-pi.com