Susan Powell's parents push for new custody legislation in Washington

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OLYMPIA, Wash. — The parents of missing West Valley mom Susan Powell made an impassioned plea before Washington state lawmakers Friday to pass a measure that would restrict custody rights of suspects in murder investigations.

The testimony from Chuck and Judy Cox came four days ahead of the one-year anniversary of the deaths of their grandchildren, Braden and Charlie Powell, at the hands of their father, Josh. It was during a supervised visit at a rented home near Puyallup, Wash.

The Coxes told members of the Senate Committee on Law & Justice the Braden and Charlie Powell Act of 2013 could have saved their grandsons' lives if it had been in effect at the time.

"Most likely they would have officially named Joshua Powell a suspect in order to afford Charlie and Braden more protection," Chuck Cox said.

Cox also suggested the measure may have spared Susan if the law had been enacted prior to 2009.

"If the law is adopted, it will be a deterrent by removing the automatic custody benefit of making your spouse disappear permanently," he said.

Simply, the act bars suspects in active murder investigations from custody awards.

Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, WA, said she was confident the measure would move forward over the remaining three weeks of the legislative session.

If the law is adopted, it will be a deterrent by removing the automatic custody benefit of making your spouse disappear permanently.

–Chuck Cox, Susan Powell's father

"I thought that the appearance of the grandparents, Chuck and Judy Cox, was integral to, certainly, the support I'm feeling on the committee," Roach said in a phone interview.

The bill, she maintained, was broadly crafted enough to apply in a number of circumstances.

"This, according to law now, is going to be a red flag when you decide who you're going to allow supervised visits," Roach said.

The legislation is part of a broader effort on behalf of the Cox family to effect change. Roach said the Coxes repeatedly attempted to warn police and other officials about the danger of Josh Powell seeing his children.

"It was, in our opinion, treated lightly," Judy Cox told the committee.

The bill is already being met with some opposition. Rick Bartholomew — a legislative liaison speaking on behalf of the Washington State Bar Association — raised concerns about the measure on legal grounds, though he said he supported the broader idea behind SB 5162.

Among the concerns, he said, was a lack of a definition of what a suspect is and the possibility a suspect could use the law to gain discovery in a separate criminal case.

"That's a concern, because you don't want to let the suspect know what the police moves are," said Salt Lake City-based attorney Clayton Simms, who is not connected to the case. "Are they tapping your phone? Are they looking through your mail? Do they have a search warrant? What are they doing? Some of those things are secret."

Simms also said complications could arise from the vague definition of what a suspect is.

"The police sort of start out with a lot of suspects and maybe they have a frontrunner," Simms explained. "But they eliminate the other suspects. So all of those other people could be theoretically barred from taking over custody of the children."

Roach said she expected amendments on her bill before it advanced from committee that would address some of the legal concerns.

Bartholomew said he would be interested to hear what police agencies had to say about the issues he highlighted.

Lawmakers on the panel noted though law enforcement was in attendance, officials had not elected to testify during the hearing.